First Comes Marriage (Previous version)
by mysterymoon
Summary: Astoria wants to take Scorpius away from Draco out of plain spite. When he turns to Hermione with a request to help him keep his son, will she accept? And what will happen when they have to live under the same roof, and pretend to love each other? Version 1, no longer updated. Please check Version 2 for the updated story.
1. First comes a meeting invitation

White is such an underrated color spectrum. It's regarded as the simplest and plainest of colors, and hardly anyone would ever name white their favorite color. It is mundane, and often forgotten in favor of blues and reds and yellows.

Hermione Granger was no ordinary person, however. She had always loved the color. It is an amalgmation of every color, and yet, so humble and muted. It never screamed out at you from an array of colors, yet it is an important part of the color spectrum around the world. She leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling in her office. It was white at a fleeting glance, but if you looked carefully, you would see the grey grain running through it, and the yellow reflection from the sun hitting the window.

White gave Hermione Granger hope and peace. All the important memories of her life were now bathed in a white light as she reflected upon them. Chasing butterflies in her parents backyard as a child, Professor McGonagall's visit to her house when she was 11, the troll from first year, seeing Harry return from the maze their fourth year, obliviating her parents, seeing Voldemort's body after the war, finding her parents, Ron proposing, them breaking up.

After the war, Hermione had been the first to volunteer at the restoration committee to try and piece back the community and help everyone move on. The committee had gone all over the country charming, spelling, and in the worst cases, physically undoing the destruction the war had brought with it. She had always believed that work made her forget herself, and at that time, it is what she needed. Stopping meant giving her brain time to remember everything that she had seen and been through, and she could not allow that. So she worked. She worked until she forgot her past, and it wasn't soon after that she lost track of her personal life. Ron waited for three years for her, attempting to take her focus off work by taking her on dates, attempting to get her to be in the relationship as much as he was. He proposed two years after the war, and she accepted. She still didn't stop working, and he didn't know how to be in a relationship only he was present in. So he left. She didn't cry.

Now, it had been 8 years since the war. She had done everything she could for the community, and had taken up a job as the Education Secretary at the Ministry. It was just demanding enough that she was busy, but not so time consuming that she didn't have a life outside the ministry. Ron and her had long accepted that friendship suited them more, and he was happily married to Lavender Brown now. Harry and Ginny had married and already had a baby on the way.

She was happy with her life. It was peaceful and calm, and just what she needed.

She straightened up, as she heard a knock on her door. "Come in," she called.

Lucy, her assistant, popped in to her office. "Hermione, the undersecretary owled just now and asked to re-schedule tomorrows meeting. Is Wednesday at 3pm good for you?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

Lucy made a note on her clipboard, and read ahead. "Headmistress McGonagall asked to speak to you about the new Arithmancy curriculum, and about increased funding for Magical Creatures. What should I tell her?"

"Ask her if tomorrow morning is fine with her, and I can take a portkey there."

"Okay. Last thing, Malfoy Enterprises wants a meeting with you."

"Malfoy? As in, Lucius Malfoy?" Hermione asked, confused about why Lucius Malfoy wanted from her. The Malfoys had fled from the war, and distanced themselves from all old associates after the battle was over. Lucius Malfoy had even testified against some of his old "friends" and guaranteed immunity for his family. Now, the company had garnered a reputation as philanthropic and charitable, instead of the former anti-muggle and blood elitist mentality it supported previously.

"Malfoy, as in Draco Malfoy," Lucy corrected.

"What does he want?" Her former nemesis might have changed as the community changed, but she could only associate his name with the boy who called her a mudblood in school.

"I really don't know, his secretary wouldn't say," Lucy said, apologetically.

Hermione sighed. She couldn't let her childhood issues with someone stand in the way of a potential opportunity for her department. She would be professional, and listen to what Draco Malfoy had to say just like she would any other person.

"Okay, when?" she asked.

"You can meet him today at 2..."

Outwardly, Hermione nodded calmly. Inwardly, she was panicking. She was not ready to meet Draco Malfoy today.


	2. Then comes a second first-meeting

Hermione Granger tapped her fingers against the table. Draco Malfoys secretary had shown her to a large conference room, and asked her to wait there for him. She even left a large tray of finger sandwiches and little pastries alongside a beautifully ornate teapot set. Hermione poured herself a cup of tea with 2 sugars and a squeeze of lemon while she waited. It had been 10 minutes, and she was getting impatient. Her inner child even screamed that Malfoy was trying to play a trick on her, and embarass her by never planning on actually showing up. She squashed that thought as quickly as it came to her, though.

Hermione Granger would be civil and professional to the end, even if it killed her.

Just then the door opened, and in walked someone who did not resemble the Draco Malfoy she went to school with. His face was the same angular shape and pale color she remembered. He was dressed in black robes, and his pale blonde hair wasn't slicked back the way he favored it be back in school. It was Draco Malfoy, but something was off...

"Miss Granger, sorry for keeping you waiting. My last meeting ran a little late than I had planned for," he said, and offered his hand to her.

She dazedly stood up, and shook his hand.

"Hermione, please," she said, when she finally shook herself from her daze.

He smiled, and gestured to the chair for her to sit down. She sat, and watched him take a seat opposite her.

"I'm sure you must be wondering why I've asked to meet with you," he started.

"I was a little surprised, I must admit," she said, honestly.

"Well, - _Hermione_ , I am interested in opening a new school."

"But we have schools catering to childre-"

"You didn't let me finish," he interrupted. "I want to open a new school for children without magical capabilities."

"You mean squibs?"

"Yes, it's a shame nobody thought of this until now. I want the school to teach them Potions and about herbology, and anything else without a wand. Not to mention, it'll allow them to leave their overly protected homes and be in a supportive community."

Hermione simply stared at him, her mouth slightly agape.

"W-Why?"

"Pardon me?"

"Why are you doing this? Didn't your family and all your friends used to sneer at squibs?" Hermione spit out without thinking. She slapped a hand over her mouth when she realized how rude she had been. "Mr. Malfoy, I'm sor-"

"No, it's fine. What you said is true. You have to understand that it was part of my upbringing. I never felt my beliefs being challenged, so I continued to believe they were true. I'm sure you were brought up with certain principles which you accepted as facts when you were a child. Of course, mine were a lot more severe..."

"Still, that was uncalled for," Hermione replied. "I apologize. I think this idea is fantastic."

He smiled at her. That's when she realized what was different about him. She had never seen him smile before. It was a nice smile, and truly transformative to his usually cold and angular features.

"I had this proposal drawn up, with details of all the classes and structure of the school," he continued, placing a big binder in front of her. "You can go through and make changes or additions as you like. Malfoy Enterprises will be happy to fund the construction of the premises and all the expenses for the proper functioning of the school."

"No, no. I'm sure Minister Kingsley will be happy to allocate funds to this project. And I have some I can dedicate to it from my department as well."

"Okay, as you see fit then."

"I'll talk to the Minister and let you know soon," she said, standing up and collecting her things.

He stood up, and opened the door for her.

"I hope you can forgive me for my rudeness earlier, Mr. Malfoy," she said as she exited the room.

He waved it off. "And it's Draco, please."

"Thank you...Draco," she said, and walked to the floo entrance.

Draco Malfoy watched as she left, and smiled to himself. This would definitely be an interesting project.

 **(A/N: Thank you for all the love on this. I was finally in the mood to write again, and this is what came out of that. Just a quick note, please be courteous in your review. This isn't my full time job, and I'm doing it because I enjoy it and love that I can share it with so many of you. Constructive criticism and your thoughts are welcomed, and I appreciate another set of eyes on my work, but not when it is rude and uncalled for. To everyone else, thank you for reading!**


	3. Then comes a change in opinions

"He said what?" Minister Kingsley exclaimed, his deep voice rumbling off the walls of his office.

"I know. Trust me, I was just as shocked," Hermione nodded knowingly.

"It's a brilliant idea, though," Kingsley said after a brief silence.

"I know that as well," Hermione concurred.

"Do you think you can get a cost estimate to me by early next week?"

"I don't need to. Malfoy _literally_ has thought of everything," Hermione said. Kingsley thought he heard a slight awe in her voice. "And he offered to pay for the entire thing."

"That's too much. I'd like to have the Ministry put its full weight behind this thing. It'll only help encourage people to be more accepting of yet another community."

Hermione nodded in agreement, and slid down in her chair slightly.

"It's absolutely brilliant," she said, deep in thought. "I still can't believe Draco Malfoy thought of this, and not me."

"Do I sense a tinge of jealousy, Ms. Granger?" Kingsley asked, his eyes twinkling.

"No, no. Don't get me wrong. What I meant was that he stood for everything the dark side believed in. He made fun of the Weasleys for being blood traitors, he looked down on me for having muggle parentage, his family helped in the return of Voldemort, he stood there while his Aunt tortured me, he even openly joined Voldemort when Harry pretended to be dead. Suddenly, his beliefs have changed now? He thinks people without the same capabilities as him are worth treating with respect? I just can't believe that I kept crusading for equality, and focused all my attention on Muggleborns, and completely forgot about squibs all these years. The worst part is, I don't even think he's doing all this only to stay in our society's good grace. He genuinely seems concerned and interested in solving all these issues."

"Maybe he is, Ms. Granger. Can I trust you to keep what I'm about to say between us?" he asked.

"Of course, Minister."

"The war left the Ministry with almost no funds. Everything we had went towards the burials of the fallen soldiers, and the remaining went towards the committee you worked with to restore our community. We were on the verge of announcing our funding limitations to the public, when we received an anonymous donation and no note or identitification. We used it to fund the trials, increasing the capacity at Azkaban, and even some of the basic functioning of the Ministry. I tracked the amount at Gringotts later. It came from Draco Malfoy's personal account."

Hermione looked at him, stunned.

"A lot of our community rebuilding events have been donations of his, you know. His only condition is to never reveal the donor. I think your assessment is true. He's doing it because he genuinely wants to mend his ways and repair all the destruction he and his family caused," Kingsley continued. He straightened up in his chair, and went back to being professional. "So you will tell Mr. Malfoy that the Ministry would like to go 50-50 on the funding for the school, and that we want the school to open this September."

"B-but it's almost the end of June!"

"I have faith in your abilities, Ms. Granger."

"Yes, Minister," Hermione said, knowing that there was no use arguing.

She thanked him, and left the office. She would have to go and talk to Malfoy again.

 **(A/N: Thank you for reading! Please let me know your thoughts so far. The story has a direction I don't think a lot of you will expect. You'll see a glimpse of it in the next chapter!)**


	4. Then comes a meeting with Scorpius

"Miss Granger," Ida, Draco's secretary acknowledged as she saw Hermione return for the second time that day. "I wasn't aware that I should be expecting you back today. I'm sorry, let me ask -"

"Oh, no. I wasn't due to be back today. I just need to speak to him, if it's possible."

"Um, he's a little busy. Please have a seat, and I'll see if he can see you today."

Hermione took a seat, and out of habit, shook her right foot while she waited.

Five minutes later, Ida came back and said, "Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy will see you now."

Hermione smiled, and followed Ida. Draco Malfoys office was massive. It had a smaller conference table within the room towards the side. His table itself could seat eight people if necessary, and was currently the seat of a little boy. He didn't look to be more than three years in age, and she could tell he was Draco's son even before any introductions. He had the same pale skin, blonde hair, grey eyes, and long nose as his father, and was currently busy playing on his Fathers desk. He was a really beautiful little boy.

"Hermione, hello, I wasn't expecting you back today," Draco stood up, and walked over to shake her hand.

Hermione silently shook his hand, her eyes still on the little boy.

"Oh, sorry, where are my manners. This is Scorpius, my son," he explained, noting her stare. "Scorpius, say hello to Miss Granger."

"Hello, Miss Granger," Scorpius repeated, flashing a broad smile at Hermione.

"Hello, Mr. Scorpius," Hermione said seriously. "What are you playing with?"

"It's a kidditch game," he explained.

"Oh, wow. Which player are you?" she asked, looking down into the miniature field. The little players zoomed about on broomsticks, and it all looked very realistic.

"I'm that one," the little boy replied, pointing to one of the players. "He's the seeker, and he's on the green team. Like Daddy."

"That's really nice. Are you winning?"

"Yes. I didn't at first, but now I got really good at winning. Daddy says it's cause I practices," he spoke confidently.

"Yes, practice definitely makes you perfect," Hermione agreed.

"He's really cute. I'm sorry, I wasn't aware you had a son," Hermione turned to look at Draco, who was smiling at his son as he went back to controlling his player to get to victory.

"Yes, he's going to be 4 this year. He's everything to me," Draco said.

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you," Hermione said.

"Oh, no, no. My wife decided to go to Paris for a spontaneous shopping trip, so I brought Scorpius to the office with me."  
Hermione knew that pureblood parents, especially fathers tended to not attend to their children until they were much older. Their children had all the services and goods they wanted growing up, but they were never given personal attention from their parents. So it was surprising to her that Draco actually took care of his son without any assistance. Yet, so much had changed about him, and maybe this was another tradition he had abandoned.

"Minister Kingsley has agreed to the idea. He even wants the Ministry to bear half the costs of completing the project," Hermione explained professionally.

"That's great. I'll have my lawyers draw up the contract papers and the record papers for filing in the Ministry."

"The only thing is, he wants the school to open this September."

"That's fine. Ideally, it's best to have it open this year."

"You don't sound concerned about the short timeline," Hermione stated, having expected a protest from him.

"No, I know you can do it. And my company and I will be there for whatever resources you need."

"Thank you," Hermione said confusedly. Was Draco Malfoy complimenting her?

He simply smiled at her. "I'll pass over the details to my lawyers, and you should have the papers by the end of the day tomorrow."

"Sure. I'll start looking at properties we can use for the school."

"Okay. If you don't find anything suitable within the Ministry resources, I have a couple of ideas for places we can build the school. I'll have Ida owl you a list today."

"Thank you, Draco," Hermione said.

"Thank _you_ , Hermione."

"Bye, Mr. Scorpius," she said, waving to the little boy.

"Bye Ms. Granger," the little boy smiled.

 **(A/N: Thank you for all the love, you guys! I know the chapters are small, but I thought posting everyday made up for that. Let me know if you think changing that up would be better. Please let me know your thoughts, and thank you for reading!**


	5. Then comes a story of redemption

"You ready to go home, mate?" Draco asked, closing his final file of the day and moving towards his son.

Scorpius didn't even look up, as his little forehead was scrunched up in concentration over using the little toy wand to guide his player to the golden ball flittering about. "Just a second, Daddy."

Draco smiled to himself, as he looked at the boy who looked so much like he did as a little boy, and yet was nothing he was behavior wise.

Draco had made sure of it.

Pureblood marriages were very traditional. The boy courted the girl with the permission of her family, and after six months of courtship, the couple announced their engagement, barring any severe red flags. They were married in a massive society wedding, where the couple barely knew 10 of the 600 attendees. Less than a year later, the lady announced she was with child. Of course, with the war, the older Malfoys hadn't expected Draco to go through the ritual; they just wanted him to get married for his own security. So Draco had married the first girl his parents introduced to him. He had known of Astoria, but had never made an effort to socialize with her at Hogwarts.

The Greengrass family had chosen to remain in the quiet shadows during the war. They hadn't fought against Voldemort, and they had been lucky to not be on his side either. Their reputation had only suffered in the slightest, as some had taken to labeling them as cowards. They were definitely of a higher footing in the society as it stood than the Malfoys, and Lucius had wasted no time to set up the couple before someone else got to Astoria.

After a quick meeting of both families, Draco had proposed to Astoria with the Malfoy ring, and Astoria had accepted. Their wedding was, as Draco had expected, n less than a circus. Lucius and Narcissa had taken it as an opportunity to reach out to all those he had fought against and make amends.

Draco remembered feeling numb all that while. He hadn't felt like his life had changed drastically with his marriage. He had taken over the family company after their trials had ended, and chosen to silently make amends. He needed to make amends to make up for what he had seen and done during the war. His very first week as CEO, he had hired Ida as his assistant. She was a middle-aged halfbood witch, who had lost her husband and son in the war, and needed to work to support her 13 year old daughter. For 3 years, he had given Ida free reign to bring to him any cause that needed funding, and he would blindly sign the authorization form. He didn't let anyone know he was doing it, not even his family. His mood improved in those 3 years, as the money that had caused so much devastation over so much time was finally being used to help people.  
All that changed when Astoria told him she was pregnant. He had looked down at the crib at his son, and picked him up with shivering arms. He had wept that day, thanking Merlin that he was not entirely lost, and that things could get better.

Scorpius had become his whole life then. Everything he did, he did for his son. Astoria had not bonded to him as much, and had chosen to live traditionally, calling for a house-elf to clean up any spit, or take him for a bath or a nap. She saw him once or twice a day, if that, choosing to focus on losing weight, and adding to her wardrobe with random trips across the continent. Draco, on the other hand, wanted to experience everything on his own. He had stayed up with his son when he was sick, wiped his nose, made weird noises to get the boy to eat, held on to him as he took his first steps, laughed when he finally said "Da-da", and cuddled with him at night. Astoria often disapproved, but that hadn't deterred Draco. Scorpius had brought new light into his life, and he felt lighter and happier than he had ever felt in his life. He was determined to become a better man for his son, to give him all the happiness in the world, and to never let him feel the burden the Malfoy name came with.  
So he set out to replace all the bad associations his family had. He personally started looking into things they could do and causes they could fund that could truly make the community a better place. He had consulted with St. Mungo's and helped open a new hospital. He had stayed up nights working out the kinks in the plans, and when it finally opened, the newspapers were flooded with articles about how much easier it was to seek treatment. The very next year, St. Mungo's opened up a research department, where Healers were able to learn about Muggle medicine, in hopes to treat magically un-treatable ailments.

None of the reports held his name on them. He preferred to be a silent donor, even though his own Father thought it was a terrible idea. But he had continued his work quietly.

As he read a report of a successful cancer survivor owing to the research department in the Daily Prophet a year later, he had looked at his son, who had been oblivious to his father's stare, and felt proud. Proud that he had come a long way from his teenage self, and proud that he had managed to be a catalyst for a better world for his son. Proud that his son was respectful, thoughtful, and a happy boy.

"Daddy, can we get ice-cream today?" Scorpius asked, pulling Draco out of his thoughts.

He rubbed his chin, pretending to be in deep thought, before breaking out into a wide grin. "Chocolate caramel or raspberry swirl?"

"Chocolate!" the boy exclaimed, and jumped up into his Father's waiting arms.

Draco laughed, and walked over to the fireplace to floo to Florean's.

* * *

"-and then, Irene pulled the monkey and-" Scorpius explained the story of what had happened at playschool the previous day to his Father, as they stepped out of the fireplace at their house.

"You're late," Astoria said seriously, interrupting her son while sitting on the sofa opposite the fireplace.

"Astoria," Draco acknowledged, placing his son on the floor. "We just went to get-"

"Ice-cream, I can see that," she cut him off, gesturing to Scorpius' ice-cream covered mouth. "Sully!"

The house elf instantly appeared in front of her. "Yes, Mistress," the creature bowed in front of her.

"Take Scorpius for a bath, and put him to bed," she commanded.

"Yes, Mistress," the creature bowed again, and went to Scorpius. "Let's go, Master."

Scorpius looked at his father, clearly scared by his mother's serious tone. Draco smiled gently, and gestured for his son to go with the house-elf.

Scorpius smiled back, pacified by his father, and followed the elf to his room. He knew his father would come to him later, and read him a story.

Draco waited for Scorpius' door to close before speaking. "You don't have to be so rude, you know. You scared-"

"I'm pregnant, Draco."

* * *

 **(A/N: Thank you for reading, and let me know your thoughts on this turn!)**


	6. Then comes a threat

"I think I can get Neville on board for Herbology," Hermione said, flipping through her notes.

Draco's desk was filled with stacks of papers that had checklists and notes and all kinds of Ministry application forms.

"Longbottom?" Draco asked, a small grin tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Yes," she said, almost defensively. "Neville is really gifted at Herbology. He would be a great mentor to the students."

"Okay," Draco said, shrugging his shoulders and flipping over to the next page in the binder she had placed in front of him.

She looked at him suspiciously. She had expected a fight, as she knew he didn't get along with Neville.

"Just okay?"

"What did you want me to say?" he asked slowly.

Hermione sighed. "Nothing."

"You have nothing to say?" he chuckled teasingly.

Hermione shot him a quick glare. "I don't speak that much," she huffed.

"I can think of at least 3 different professors who would disagree with that statement," he teased.

Hermione shot up an eyebrow at him, challenging him to speak further. However, the amused grin she was trying to hide gave her away. Was Draco Malfoy actually teasing and being friendly, and not just cordial?

"Anyway, Luna Lovegood for divination? Are you trying to create a gryffindor house reunion at this school, Granger?"

"Luna was a Ravenclaw. And she is fantastic at divination," she corrected him, choosing to forego his use of the name he called her while they were at Hogwarts. When accompanied with his usual snarl, it sounded almost...endearing? That couldn't be right.

"If you say so. Do you need me to be there at their contract negotiations? Because I'd rather-"

"No, let me speak to them personally first. Then I can just consult with your lawyers and draw up their contracts," she interrupted, knowing that he would be uncomfortable facing his former schoolmates after so many years.

"So that's all the teachers we have. Did you get a chance to look at the list of properties I sent you?"

"Yes. Mal-Draco, isn't the Wiltshire address that of Malfoy Manor?" she asked nervously, her voice much lower than before.

"Yes, that's right. And before you ask, the Manor was demolished. It's a piece of land, and the Aurors searched it thoroughly for any residual dark magic. It's all clear," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"If you don't mind me asking, why was it-?"

"Demolished?" he completed. His past was still a sore topic for him, and he wanted to move back to work as soon as he could. "Too many bad memories, and too many bad events."

"Draco, I-"

"It's fine, Granger," he smiled. "If it's okay, can we regroup tomorrow? I'm a little tired."

She looked at him, trying to read his mind. When she got no answers, she nodded, and smiled. Draco watched her collect her things, and pull the papers into a neat stack at the corner of his desk.

"Bye, Draco," she said, before leaving.

"Bye, Granger," he smiled a little.

He didn't feel terrible about lying to her, simply because he hadn't. He was a lot tired, barely getting any sleep the previous night. He and Astoria had fought for more than 3 hours, and he had tossed and turned all night in thought of finding a solution.

 _"You're pregnant? How can that be? We haven't-" he had asked her, confused since the math didn't add up._

 _"It's not yours," she had said defiantly._

 _"You've been cheating on me?"_

 _"It's cheating if it's a relationship. We haven't had a relationship beyond the necessary formal traditions, Draco."_

 _"We have a son! I'd call that a relationship!" he had screamed, after casting a quick Muffliato around them. He didn't want to scare Scorpius._

 _"Your son is all you see, Draco!" she had retaliated. "Have you ever cared-"_

 _"I have made sure you had the finest clothes and jewelery, and I never stopped you-"_

 _"That is not enough!" she had screamed back. "Blaise makes me feel-"_

 _"_ Blaise _? Blaise Zabini? You cheated on me with that piece of-"_

 _"Don't say another word. You have no right-"_

 _"Of course I have the fucking right. I have the right to say whatever I want when you decide to cheat on me."_

 _"Why do you suddenly care?"_

 _"Because you are my son's mother. What will he-"_

 _"Again, with your son. This is why-"_

 _"He is your son, too! Think about what he will have to hear and bear when we got out in public, and people talk about his illegitimate sibling."_

 _"Draco, we aren't going out in public. I'm going to Italy to be with Blaise."_

 _Draco had felt the blood coursing through his veins then. He had felt his heartbeat through the tips of his fingers, as he comprehended what Astoria was telling him._

 _"You're going to leave me? You're going to leave Scorpius?" he had asked._

 _"I'm not happy. You're not-"_

"Don't. You. Dare. Tell. Me. How. I. Feel _," he had said, his tone eerily reminiscent of his teenage self._

 _"Fine, I'll have Father's lawyers contact yours so we can settle the matter of alimony," she had said, standing up._

 _"Alimony?! What alimony?"_

 _"You know, the monthly allowance I get from you."_

 _"You, absolute vile woman. You got pregnant with another man's child and broke our marriage. You aren't getting any alimony from me!"_

 _"Fine, then you aren't getting Scorpius from me," she had said menacingly, her eyes narrowed, and mouth turned into a dark smile._

Her words had hung over Draco the entire night. He couldn't ever imagine his life without his son. And he was sure, his son wouldn't be able to live happily without him either.

He needed to do something. And he needed to do it soon.

 **(A/N: Okay, just wait for the elaboration on Draco's thoughts on the alimony and custody parts. It's coming up next chapter, as he talks to his lawyer. Thanks for reading, and let me know your thoughts on the direction this story is going in. )**


	7. Then comes heartbreak

"The document Mrs. Malfoy's attorney sent us says she wants a sum of 2500 galleons per month, the properties in Greece and Italy, and her choice of ten items of jewelry from the Malfoy vault."

"That's ridiculous! Why does she want all that when she's going to live with Zabini?!" Draco wasn't short on money, but he didn't want his lying, cheating soon to be ex-wife to get a single knut from his inheritance. She had betrayed his trust, and was abandoning her son-no, his son- for her own pleasure.

"Well, Mrs. Malfoy won't be able to access any Zabini properties until she is legally married to him. And, ahem, uh, it's really not my place to say, Mr. Malfoy, but, um, it is well known that Mr. Zabini's mother cut him off two years ago. He only has the house he brought before then, and not too much left in his personal vault either."

Draco pressed a finger to his temple. He could feel the beginning of a headache press against his eyes.

"The pre-nuptials definitely had a stipulation that she would get nothing if she broke the marriage. Especially any children. I remember that clearly," Draco said.

"Yes, you are correct. Unfortunately, the Ministry's rules overwrite that part of the contract, Sir. The 2002 Kirkwell law states that in a custody arrangement between a separated couple, the child must reside with the parent that is able to provide a complete family. If Mrs. Malfoy was not getting married, or if either parent signed over their rights, it would be a different situation. We sent over the revised contract for you to sign…"

Draco had no recollection of it, and sank down in his seat, blinking back tears of frustration. He could not lose his son.

"Fine, tell her she can have everything she wants. Just make sure she signs over all rights over Scorpius to me."

"Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Deyes is back to see you. And there are some other guests…" Ida informed him later that day.

"Guests, who-?"

Before he could complete, his father-in-law, Philip Greengrass walked in with his daughter, and his attorney.

"Draco," he nodded in acknowledgment.

"What are _you_ doing here?" Draco asked, foregoing the usual niceties.

"Draco, there's no need to talk to Father-"Astoria started defensively.

"Shut it," he told her darkly.

"Really, Draco, there's no need for this behavior. We're here to talk," Philip rebuked.

"Why have you brought them here?" Draco asked Mr. Deyes, his attorney, continuing to ignore the Greengrass patriarch.

"Sir, they insisted they needed to talk, and I-"

"Draco, we want Scorpius to live with us," Philip interjected.

Draco stood up in anger. "What did you just say to me?! Scorpius is my son, and-"

"And Astoria's son," Philip replied, taking a seat. Astoria stood behind her father, and looked at Draco with her arms crossed against her chest.

Draco had to try really hard to not pick up his wand and hex her right there.

"Our lawyers just informed us that we would be eligible to claim Scorpius for custody since Astoria would be able to provide him a stable home and family soon."

"Scorpius is not a thing for you to claim, Philip. And your daughter went around like a slag and got pregnant, and you're still on her side? Have you no shame? Don't you feel for your grandson at the thought of living with this woman?"

"It's best if you, Mr. Malfoy, don't speak of having shame," Philip said, interlacing his fingers and staring at Draco darkly.

"Get out!" Draco screamed. "Get out of my sight right now!"

"Gladly," Philip said, standing up. "The date for the divorce settlement is July 10, and the next day for the custody dispute. You should be receiving a notice from the Wizengamot soon enough."

"Astoria, please," Draco begged softly to the retreating woman. "Please don't do this. I need him."

"Sorry, Draco. He's my son, and I want him with me," she said, and followed her father out.

Draco fell back to his chair, not bothering to hide the tears falling down his cheeks this time.

"I just said I'll give her all the money in the world if it meant she would leave Scorpius this morning. What happened?" he asked Mr. Deyes, sounding not unlike the very child he was fighting for.

The older wizard looked at him sympathetically. His heart broke for the man in front of him. "I think she might be doing this for the money, Draco. Her father knows he can get child support and alimony if Astoria gets Scorpius,"he said honestly.

"I can't lose him, Alfred. I can't," he said, his voice cracking with pain.

"We'll do something. Give me a day, I'll find something," he reassured Draco.

Draco didn't hear a word he was saying. All he could see was Scorpius' face in front of his eyes, and the thought of not being near him after two weeks.

 **(A/N: There you go, I hope it makes better sense now. Thanks for reading!)**


	8. Then comes a new plan

"Pansy finally got back to me, and she heard that Astoria's father wants Astoria to have custody just to squeeze out the last knut from your vault. They've already started looking for house-elves for the position of a nanny..." Theo said, carefully checking for any reaction from Draco.

Draco's eyes shot up to his friend in confusion.

"I think they're planning to have Scorpius stay at the Greengrass mansion after the hearing under the care of a house elf, mate," Theo explained, understanding his friend's confusion.

"A house elf," Draco repeated slowly. "They want to take my son away in exchange for my money." He stated this as if it were a known fact, having become almost numb to the pain he felt in his heart.

It had been two days since Astoria and her father had informed him of their plan, and it had been two days since Draco had slept. It had also been two days since he had talked to his son. Draco didn't have it in him to speak to his son normally, so he waited until Scorpius was asleep, and would simply watch him at night. Cursing Astoria, cursing Philip Greengrass, cursing himself for not being able to do something to keep his son in his life.

"They're shitty people, Draco. You can appeal the hearing..." Theo tried reassuring his friend. After the war, Draco had reached out to Theo and offered him a position in legal matters in his company. Theo had readily accepted, and the two had become close friends over the years. Draco had even named Theo the godfather to Scorpius.

"In a year. Alfred and I have been over this," Draco said bluntly, standing up and facing away from Theo so he wouldn't see the tears about to fall from his eyes. "I can appeal their decision in a year. But there's no guarantee that they change their opinion. I'm a terrible father."

"Mate, no one thinks that, you know that," Theo quickly interrupted. "They know you're a good father. If you were married, they would definitely give Scorpius to you. There isn't a doubt in anyone's mind that you love the boy, and that he would be better off with you."

Draco turned quickly.

"What?" Theo asked.

"Give me a second," Draco said quietly, his mind going at a million kilometers a minute.

He suddenly smiled, the first in two days. With his bloodshot eyes and sallow skin, he would've looked manic to an outside onlooker.

"I just have to get married. That's it, then I can keep Scorpius," Draco said excitedly. "Oh, Merlin, thank Salazar."

Theo looked at his friend with worried eyes. "Yes, but you'd have to get married within the next 8 days. I didn't even know you were seeing anyone."

"I'm not."

"Then?"

"That's not the hard part. Can you start the paperwork for a marriage certificate?"

"And what do I put under the girl's name?"

"I don't know yet. Do you know anyone? Maybe Pansy?"

"Pans is engaged to Marcus, mate. Are you sure about this, Draco? If anyone from the Ministry finds out about this, you'll definitely lose Scorpius."

"No! I won't let that happen. I won't. I'll pay a muggle girl to be my wife if that's what it takes," Draco snapped defiantly.

"You're not thinking clearly, mate. How would you explain the magic to a muggle girl in less than a week? If you break any rules about letting muggles know about magic, you'll be in deeper shit than you are right now," Theo said. "Go home and get some sleep. You need to rest before you think about this anymore."

Draco silently nodded, and took the floo back to his room. He didn't bother changing or brushing his teeth, as exhaustion took over, and he flopped straight in his bed.

Sleep eluded him, however. He kept going through different options he had. He knew this plan was the only sure-fire way to keep his son, and if another marriage is what it took, he would do it.

He went through all the girls he knew, placing a question mark against those he knew might possibly work, and a cross against those he definitely would not ask. He had one shot to do this without the risk of his plan getting out, and he was going to be extra careful not to blow it.

One name kept coming up, and kept trying to justify it with a negative point. Instead, he could only come up with reasons it would work perfectly.

 _Should he? But what if she said no?_

 _What if she told?_

 _..._

 _She wouldn't. No, she wouldn't._

...

 _Right?_

Maybe he would ask to have a casual conversation, and slip in the question tomorrow?

 _Yes, that would be perfect._

He pulled up the blanket around him, and closed his eyes in hope of sleep. Narcissa had offered to take Scorpius home with her that night, since she could see her grandson had become worried seeing his father upset over the last two days. Draco had resisted at first, wanting to keep Scorpius as close to him as possible, but then agreed, seeing that Scorpius had in fact, become moody and reserved.

So he would sleep today, and owl her tomorrow, and hopefully tomorrow he would be free from the fear and worry of losing the person he loved more than anything and anyone.

Over the next ten minutes, he tossed, and he turned, and tossed again. No, this would definitely not work. He had to owl her today.

 _Hello,_

 _I was wondering if we would be able to have a quick conversation right now? It's urgent._

 _Draco_

He sent his owl with the letter, and sat at the window seat twirling his wand around, sneaking quick glances at the sky for his owl returning with her response.

Just as he gave up hope that she would see the owl tonight (it was past midnight, after all) and stood up to go back to bed, mentally prepared for a terrible night, he heard his owl tap at the window.

His hands shook as he untied the letter from the bird's feet, and unscrolled the parchment. There, in neat handwriting, were the words he had been waiting for.

 _Hello,_

 _Yes, sure. My address is 592 Branwick Street. I'm leaving the Floo open if you need it. Hope everything is okay._

 _Hermione Granger_

 **(A/N: Meg, here you go. You guessed it! Thank you all for reading, and please let me know your thoughts on this new development. Also, 2 chapters went up yesterday, just in case you missed one of them.)**


	9. Then comes a proposal

Draco took a deep breath and wiped his sweaty palms against the fabric of his trousers. He needed to be calm and rational during this meeting.

It could literally save his life.

He couldn't stop his heartbeat from rising, however, as he knocked on the door.

Every second he stood there was torture. One second, two seconds, three...

"Oh, hello," Hermione opened the door then, and stood aside. "Please come in."

She was dressed in a set of purple pajamas, and had a shawl thrown around her top. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun, and she had no makeup on. It was almost 1 am after all.

"Please, have a seat," she gestured to the sofa in her living room, when she noticed he was standing awkwardly. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"Oh, I'm fine, thank you," he said.

She smiled, and sat in the chair across him, nervously playing with the tassels on her shawl. She hadn't had the time to change into something else, and was now feeling awkward about being underdressed in what she assumed was a professional setting.

"So..." she started, breaking the awkward silence between them.

"So..." he repeated.

She chuckled. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Huh?"

"You owled saying you had to talk, remember?" she asked. He seemed nervous and dazed.

"Oh, that's right..."

"So, what is it?"

"Will you marry me?!" he blurted out before he could think.

"I-I'm sorry?"

"I'm sorry, let me explain," he said, regaining his senses and calming himself. He spoke and explained everything for the next half hour, his fight with Astoria, the Ministry law, his father-in-law's greedy wants, his talk with Theo...He made sure she knew he had gone over every possible option, and this was his final chance to keep his son.

"...and I love my son. I really do. Everything I am is because of him and for him. I swear. Ask anyone. I know his moods, his behavior, his wants, his needs, his routine, everything. I wouldn't ask unless it was absolutely vital. I don't want my son to grow up under the care of a house-elf. Not while I'm alive..."

"But, Draco-"

"It wouldn't even be a real marriage. We can have a contract with any stipulation you want in there. I'll even pay for the next how many ever projects your department needs funds for. Just please, don't say no," he said, his eyes glassy with unfallen tears.

Hermione's heart broke for the man in front of her. No matter what he had done as a child, he had changed, and changed for the better. He definitely didn't deserve the pain of losing his child, especially when that child had come as his retribution.

But he was asking for marriage, a fake one at that. To fool her very own workplace. If anyone found out, there was no doubt in her mind that she would lose her job and her reputation within the ministry and the society.

But Scorpius was a darling little boy. He was so sweet, and she knew that a child needed a constant source of love to stay healthy and happy, and a house-elf would not be able to do all that on it's own. The boy's life and soul would be ruined.

But she didn't even know Draco, and how would she explain their sudden relationship to her friends and her family. What would Ron and Harry say? What would her parents think? How would she live with Draco, and behave as his wife in public?

But how would she live with herself, knowing that she had ruined a man who had worked hard to leave his past behind and actually accepted all his faults? A man who had worked hard to make amends for everything he had done? What if he defaulted back to his darkness with the loss of his son?

She was torn up, and almost wanted to pull her hair out in frustration over having to make this impossible decision.

Draco watched her, and he could see the confusion over what to do across her face. He kept praying to every entity he could imagine, hoping one of them would come through and have her agree.

"You don't have to tell me your decision today," he said, not wanting to push too hard. "Just, please-"

"No, it's okay," she interrupted quietly. She met his eyes with her own, and continued. "I'll do it."

 **(A/N: Ooh, we're getting there. Thanks for reading! )**


	10. Then comes a contract

"You'll do it?" Draco asked, having expected to have to convince her way more.

"I can see that you love him, and he adores you. I wouldn't wish anything bad upon any child," she explained softly. She was unsure of her decision herself.

"How can I thank you?" he said, blinking back tears of relief.

"You can get me a job if I lose mine," she chuckled nervously. That was still a concern.

"Done. You can work at Malfoy Enterprises as head of whatever department you wish," he declared seriously.

"I was just kidding, Draco," she said.

"No matter. I mean it. I honestly can never thank you enough for this," he continued.

"It's just a matter of a year. It's not a big deal at all," she said, not wanting to make it a big deal in fear of scaring herself off the decision.

"We're going to have to meet your parents and I assume, your friends. You'll unfortunately also have to meet my parents. And, we'll have to be careful in front of Scorpius. We really cannot let anyone know-"

"that this is a fake marriage, I know," she completed. "Don't worry, we'll be careful. You won't lose him."

"Thank you, Hermione," he said softly.

"It's okay, Draco," she replied, slightly uncomfortable. "I think its best if we draw up a contract. Just so everyone's on the same page."

He nodded, having expected no less from the always prepared witch in front of him.

He watched as she shuffled around, opening various drawers in search of parchment and ink. She was quite an amazing woman, and he felt like he owed his life to her in that moment.

"Here we go. When were you thinking we should have the wedding?"

"Well, tomorrow is going to be a busy day meeting everyone. And my divorce hearing is July 10, so how about the morning of July 11?"

"Isn't that a little too soon?" she asked, still unbelieving of all that was happening, and so soon at that.

"Well, Scorpius' custody hearing is July 11. I don't see a choice..." he explained.

"Hmm, maybe I can convince Kingsley to have the custody date moved up. Until then, maybe the end date can be around the first week of August next year? We wouldn't want it to be too precise with the month and date lest someone suspect us."

He nodded in agreement. "You can put down the job stipulation in there, too."

"No, that's fine. We can handle that privately," she smiled appreciatively.

"And, um, anything about any pay," he said awkwardly, not knowing how to definitively ask her.

"No, no. I don't need anything," she said.

"Are you sure? Because I can-"

"It's fine, Draco. If it helps you keep your son, I'm happy to do it. I don't need any payment for it," she said gently.

"You're really amazing, you know," he said before he could filter his thoughts.

Hermione blushed at the sudden compliment. "Anyone else would have done the same."

Draco left the topic alone, knowing that not just anyone would agree to such a big request from someone they barely knew.

She passed the quill over to him and he signed his name neatly at the end. After she had done the same, she rolled it up and placed a binding charm over it to deter anyone other than the two of them from being able to open it.

"I'll see you tomorrow then? I can bring Scorpius over here, and we can go straight to your parents place around 12," he said, standing up.

"Yeah, I'll let them know to expect us," she said, following him to her front door.

"Thank you, Hermione. Really, I don't know how to thank you enough," he said, turning around in her front porch.

"It's okay, Draco," she said, flashing him a small smile.

"Good night, Hermione," he said.

"Good night, Draco," she said, as he apparated away.

 **(A/N: This is more like part 2 of chapter 9. Thank you for reading!)**


	11. Then comes parenthood

Hermione looked at the clock again. It was ten minutes to 12, and she hadn't heard from Draco yet. She had called her parents in the morning to let them know she was coming, but had deflected questions about why. It would be best to meet them and then explain.

Just as she was getting to her hundredth time looking at the clock, her doorbell rang. She hurriedly got up and opened the door, to reveal Draco Malfoy and his son, both dressed in muggle clothes. Draco was wearing black trousers with a light blue shirt, while his son was wearing beige pants with a blue shirt.

She smiled and extended her hand to the little boy. "Hello, Mr. Scorpius."

"Hello, Miss Her-" the boy trailed off, and look at his father for help.

"Hermione," his father gently reminded.

"Hello, Miss Herniome," the boy said, sending Hermione into a bout of laughter. The boy was precious.

"Are you ready to go?" she asked Draco, once the laughter had faded away.

"Well, actually, I thought we could have a conversation first," he said, motioning to Scorpius. "Just so there's no confusion."

Hermione nodded in understanding, and gestured for them to come into her living room.

The little boy climbed onto Hermione's couch, and looked around.

"Daddy, you're staring," he said, noticing his father's gaze upon him.

"Scorpius, remember how I told you your mother is going away for a long time?"

The boy nodded.

"Well, what do you think of Miss Hermione coming to live with us?"

Scorpius looked at Hermione, as if calculating something in his little mind. "Like Sully does?" he asked, remembering their house elf.

"Not really," Draco said, stifling his laughter. "More like a mummy."

He looked at his son, trying to gauge his reaction.

After a few moments of thinking, Scorpius turned to Hermione. "Do you like dragons?"

Hermione looked at Draco for help. He gestured for her to say yes.

"Yes, I love dragons," she replied, her eyes bright with enthusiasm.

"And can you teach me coloring? I'm not good at it, and Daddy always goes outside the lines," he continued.

"Of course, I am very good at coloring," Hermione said confidently, having caught onto the young boy's game of sussing her out.

The boy jumped off the couch and moved in front of Hermione, nervously touching her hand.

"I like you, can I hug you?" he asked sweetly.

Hermione laughed, and picked him up into a hug. Draco looked at them with relief that Scorpius had accepted Hermione.

He gestured to her that they should get going. She nodded, and moved to place Scorpius back on his feet, but he wouldn't unlock his arms from around her neck.

"Come on, buddy," Draco said, trying to pull his son off. "We have to apparate."

"No," he said, tightening his hold. Astoria never hugged him, and Narcissa didn't see him everyday. For some reason, he found comfort in Hermione, and wanted to stay stuck to her.

"It's okay, he isn't heavy," Hermione interrupted, enjoying the little boy's attention.

"Okay," Draco said, and held out his hand, waiting for Hermione to apparate them to her parent's house. With a loud bang they were gone, and the next thing Draco saw was a quintessential british neighborhood, and Hermione walking up the stairs of a house to ring the doorbell.

He walked behind her and stood, making funny faces at his son to make him laugh. Inside, he was nervous, unsure of what her parents would think of him.

A middle aged man opened the door, his hair almost entirely white, and a wide smile on his face.

"Hermione, sweetheart, come in," he said. "And who is this you have brought with you?"

Hermione turned to look at Draco, and they both took deep breaths at the same time.

Merlin save them all.

 **To be continued...**


	12. Then comes a meeting with the in-laws

"Daddy, this Scorpius Malfoy, and this is Draco Malfoy, my, uh, my-" she started.

"We've been dating, Mr. Granger," Draco completed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir." He extended his hand for the older man. Richard Granger looked confusedly at Draco, then Hermione, and then back to Draco, and took the proffered hand.

"Please, come in and have a seat," he said. "I'm going to see where Claire is."

"Does he know? About me, that is?" Draco asked, taking a seat in the Granger's living room.

"Yes, I had to, and I didn't know that-" Hermione started apologetically.

Draco waved her off. "No, it's fine. I just want to be ready and approach this correctly. They don't know this is f-a-k-e, and I wouldn't want them to think you're making a mistake," he whispered, spelling words when necessary to avoid Scorpius understanding his meaning. He looked at his son, who still had a death hold on Hermione, lifting his head up to look at the unfamiliar surroundings.

"Daddy, look a pool!" he said, having spotted the clear blue swimming pool from the french windows leading into the backyard.

"Yes, do you you like swimming?"

"I've never been," he said, releasing Hermione to sit up in her lap and look at her.

"Well, I'm a good swimmer, so I can teach you if I want," Hermione offered.

"Only after we had to push you into the deep end everyday for a week, sweetheart," a voice not unlike Hermione's interrupted. The three guests turned to see a woman who looked exactly like Hermione, just a little older, carrying in a tray of lemonade.

Hermione placed Scorpius on the sofa, and got up to go hug her mother.

"It's been almost two months," Claire gently scolded her daughter.

"I'm sorry, I was so busy at work and then-"

"I can see that," Claire teased, looking at Draco and his son.

Draco stood up to greet his future bride's mother. "Hello, Mrs. Granger."

"It's Claire, please," she said, offering him a glass of lemonade. "We don't stand on formalities around here. Do we, Hermione?"

Hermione shook her head, and laughed slightly. She had missed home.

"Richard will be in in just a minute. He's made a special surprise for you, dear," she told Hermione.

As if on cue, her father walked in carrying a large plate of bruschetta and tarts she knew had her favorite orange custard filling.

They sat and everyone ate, listening to Scorpius' stories of his friends at his playschool for the next half hour. When Draco saw the yawn that escaped his son's mouth, he excused himself to take Scorpius for a nap. Hermione followed him, showing him to her old room so they could put him to bed.

Not five minutes later, Scorpius was snoring lightly, holding on to Hermione's old teddy bear, Mr. Wumples.

"How do you think it's going?" Draco whispered.

"Well, now that it's just us adults, I assume we're going to face the inquisition squad," Hermione whispered back.

Draco looked nervous, and looked back at his son. "What if I wake him up? Maybe we just never have to talk about it."

Hermione giggled softly. "Come on, they're not that bad."

The two made their way back, and Hermione took a seat next to her mother, while Draco made place for himself on one of the lone armchairs towards the side.

"Mum, I-"

"Is he your child?" her mother asked bluntly.

Hermione looked horrified. "Mum, no. I would have told you if I had a child."

"I had to ask," Claire shrugged.

"No, he's Draco's son from a previous marriage," she explained.

"And who is Draco to you?" her father quipped. "No offense, son, but I haven't really heard the best things about you."

"Daddy-"

"No, Hermione," Draco said. "Sir, if you would let me explain?"

Richard nodded.

"I did some terrible things, I agree. But it all comes down to your family and your morals. I was told something all my life, and I believed it. It's hard to question something when you don't know the other side of it or any better. Then things began challenging my beliefs, one of them your daughter. Scorpius' presence in my life has cemented my new thoughts. I promise you, I've changed. I promise you I'll keep your daughter happy. So if I can, I'd actually like to ask your permission for her hand in marriage."

Hermione stared at Draco, and then at her parents for their reaction. She wasn't expecting Draco to ask her parents so suddenly.

"I'd like to speak to my daughter," her father said, his tone and expression void of emotion. "Alone."

Draco nodded, and traced his steps back to where Scorpius was sleeping. He threw a quick supportive glance at Hermione before he disappeared down the hallway.

"How long have you been together?" her mother asked. Richard was still quiet in thought.

"It's been a long time, and I-"

"You didn't even tell us you were involved with someone," her mother said, and Hermione detected a slight accusatory tone. "Much less someone with a child."

"Mum, I barely knew what was happening. It was so sudden," Hermione said. At least she wasn't lying then.

"Did he speak the truth?" her father asked then. "Is he actually a new man? Does he treat you well?"

"Yes, Daddy," Hermione said solemnly, thankful that she didn't have to lie completely. "He really is a changed man, and for the better. And yes, he treats me and everyone, regardless of blood or status, really well."

"Do you want to marry him?"

"Yes, I really do."

"Well, if you're sure, we trust your judgment," her father said, smiling at her.

"As long as you've thought this through and realize what a big responsibility taking care of a child is," her mother interrupted.

Hermione nodded, and smiled at her parents. They would definitely be devastated when the marriage would break, but she knew they would eventually understand if they ever found out why she had to do it.

"Well, this calls for a celebration. Go, call him back," her father said, then added with a deep chuckle. "I'm sure he's deadly nervous right now."

Hermione did as he asked, and opened the door to her room.

Draco looked at her expectantly from his place on her old chair.

"They've agreed."

He stood up, and before he knew what he was doing, he hugged her. "I'm so sorry."

Hermione was shocked. She was hugging Draco Malfoy. She was _marrying_ Draco Malfoy.

He pulled away, realizing his mistake from her sudden stiffness.

"Sorry for what?" she asked, trying to move on from the awkwardness that was causing both to blush.

"For causing you to have to lie to your parents," he said softly. "I can tell you really love them, and they, you."

Hermione smiled and waved him off. "It's no big deal. Now, they're waiting for us outside."

Draco nodded and began to follow her back to the living room.

"Hermione," he said suddenly, causing her to turn around under her doorway. "Thank you."

She smiled. "You need to stop thanking me."

"I don't think I can," he replied honestly.

"We'll figure something out," she said with a light chuckle.

 **To be continued...**


	13. Then comes a ring, a big fat ring

"That went well," Draco said, carrying a sleeping Scorpius in his arms.

"That was just stop one of three. It can only get worse from here," Hermione sighed.

"For our sake, I hope not," Draco said. "Why don't you head over to the Leaky Cauldron, and I'll meet you there in just a little bit. He's really tired, today."

Hermione nodded, and disappeared with the loud noise of apparition. A quick second later, Draco did the same.

Hermione had no idea how Harry or Ron would react to her news. They didn't know it was fake, and they were bound to carry the same grudge against Malfoy they did at Hogwarts. Surely, like her parents, they would trust her final judgement on the matter, though...She didn't have time to mull over it anymore, as she was waved over to a table by her best friends the moment she had walked into the establishment. She smiled, and waved back, happy to see her friends after a long time.

They stood up to quickly gather her into a hug, and for a second, she was transported back into their early school days. She had really missed them.

"You've disappeared for too long this time, 'Mione," Harry said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"You know how it is, Harry," Hermione said. The two boys had taken up work as Aurors at the Ministry, and if they weren't off on a mission, they were stuck on a different floor than her. As adults, they were lucky if they got to meet the other once in six months.

"So how come you planned this today?" Ron asked. She was really glad they were back to being good friends, no bad blood lingering between them.

"Can I not just miss you-"

Her statement was cut short by the ring of a bell, signalling the entrance of a new customer.

"What's Malfoy doing here?" Ron asked with spite, causing Hermione to cringe at what was about to happen.

Draco walked over to their table, and smiled at Hermione, who stood up near him.

"Harry, Ron," she started. "I'm getting married to Draco."

"What?!"

"Hermione, have you lost it?"

"Are you under the Imperio? Touch your nose and stick out your tongue right now if you aren't. _Do it!_ "

"No, I-"

"What hex did you use on our Hermione?" Ron said, pointing his wand at Draco. "What's your plan here, Ferret? You know I can arrest you for using an unforgivable, right?"

Draco looked at Hermione, waiting for her to deal with the situation.

"Ron, this is my decision," Hermione said patiently. "I've been, uh, dating Draco for a bit, and we decided to-"

"I don't believe it," Ron shouted, attracting stares from the other customers.

"You're making a scene, put down your wand," Hermione hissed.

"Ferret boy? You're marrying ferret boy? If this has something to do with what happened with us, I-"

"It has nothing to do with that," she said. "Harry?"

Harry looked at her with a confused expression. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It happened really suddenly, and I was trying to figure things out for myself. I didn't mean to hurt you," she said,

using the same statement she had used for her parents. Ron huffed in anger, and walked out.

Hermione looked at Harry with pleading eyes.

"He'll come around," Harry said consolingly. "He always does. You're sure about this?" He gestured to Draco.

"Yes, I am," Hermione said.

"Then, congratulations, I guess," he said, and pulled her into another hug.

"Congratulations," he said to Draco then, holding out his hand.

Draco shook his hand, feeling nostalgic as he saw how far they had all come from when he had first offered Harry his hand. "Thank you."

"Ron-" Hermione started.

"I'll handle him, don't worry," Harry said, knowing what his best friend was thinking.

"Thank you, Harry," she said, kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"So, tell me how this happened, because I'm really confused," Harry said, a teasing grin on his face. Hermione was smart, and had been alone for too long. If she thought Draco Malfoy was her ideal match, he wouldn't come in her way of happiness. No matter how much he personally struggled to understand it.

"Miss Granger, would you like some tea?" Narcissa Malfoy's voice pulled Hermione out of her daze. She still couldn't believe she was sitting in the Malfoy home. In front of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. As their future daughter-in-law.

They were lucky Draco had had the Manor demolished, because there was no way Hermione would have stepped foot into the Manor. This home was on a land not too far from the old manor, and was actually significantly smaller. After all, only Lucius and Narcissa used it, and a lot of their ancestral belongings had been either taken by the Aurors for examination or burned with the Manor. It was still grand, and Hermione could tell all the furniture in the massive drawing room was part of antique collections.

"Yes, please," Hermione said politely. "Just one sugar is fine."

Narcissa herself made the tea, and handed the cup to Hermione. She smiled gracefully as she accepted it, and took a small sip.

"Miss Granger, we don't know how to thank you," Narcissa said, sitting back in her chair. Hermione had always thought she was a beautiful woman, and she had added brave to the description in her mind once Harry had told her of Narcissa's actions during the war. "When Draco told us of your selfless actions, we were stunned. With everything terrible that happened-"

"I apologize for interrupting you, Mrs. Malfoy, but its all in the past," Hermione said. "Scorpius is a lovely child, and I couldn't have it upon my conscience to have the life of a child ruined due to past mistakes and rivalries. It's entirely selfish, you see." She had joked in hopes of lightening the mood, embarassed by all the attention.

Narcissa smiled appreciatively, and look at Lucius. The older Malfoy was still looking at Hermione, trying to gauge her. When Lucius didn't break out of his thoughts, Narcissa called out to him to get him to say something.

"Ah, yes," Lucius said. "Thank you, Miss Granger."

Lucius did not hold the same beliefs he did ten years ago, but he was definitely uncomfortable in front of Hermione.

"It's not a problem, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione said.

"Draco says you don't want any payment for your...services. We can offer money or something else, if need be," Lucius said, unsure of how to put his thoughts into words without offending the witch.

"No, just the satisfaction of seeing Scorpius remain in a loving environment is enough for me," Hermione said.  
Lucius looked at her, and made up his mind. This witch was smart, caring and well cultured. He realized his family was now indebted to her, something he couldn't have comprehended a few years ago.

"Draco, there's the matter of a ring..." Narcissa chimed in.

"Oh, right," Draco said. "I've completely forgotten about that."

Narcissa laughed lightly. "I knew you would. I had Lucius retrieve Grandmere Catherina's ring today." She pulled out a black box, from a bag beside her, and opened it up and out for Draco.

The ring was quite beautiful. It was a six carat diamond surrounded by inter-twining rows of smaller diamonds set in a gold band.

Draco took the ring, and turned to Hermione nervously.

Hermione held out her right hand, aware of the stares on her.

"It's the other hand," Draco whispered.

Her eyes shot up to his face. "Huh?"

He smiled softly at her, and repeated, "It's your left hand."

She held out her other hand then, and he noted it shook slightly when he held on to it and slid the ring on her fourth finger.

When he let go, Hermione looked at the ring.

It was definite now. She would be married to Draco Malfoy in less than a month.

 **(A/N: Thank you all for all the love. I'm so glad I started writing again. Please let me know your thoughts, I'd love to know how you feel about this direction.)**


	14. Then comes the wedding

"Miss Granger, if it is okay with you, I would like to invite your mother here so she can have a say in the wedding preparations as well," Narcissa said.

Hermione had been invited almost every day after work to go over the plans Narcissa had drawn up. Almost every day, Hermione would try to protest the extravagant ideas, and almost every day, Narcissa would assure her it was important their wedding be perfect.

 _"No matter that this is a fake marriage, it is your first wedding," she would say. "The least I can do is make sure it's special."_

 _"But, this is really too much, and not my style at that" Hermione would protest._

 _"When you see the wedding in front of you, you will love it, I promise," Narcissa would explain gently._

 _Hermione would sit back, and wonder what the money could have gone to if not for the wedding._

Hermione looked at Narcissa, unbelievingly. It was proving to still be a difficult task for her to see Lucius and Narcissa be accepting and inviting of her. She didn't want to say anything to the effect to avoid insulting them, so she let Narcissa lead the way with the wedding preparations. Now she was okay with inviting a muggle into her home? Surely this was a dream.

"Yes, I can call her and tell her," Hermione said. She intended on making this a smooth and happy process for all of them.

"That would be great, dear," Narcissa said. "Maybe you can ask her to join us here in the morning, so we can have her input on the wedding dress."

Hermione nodded, and flipped over the catalogue of cakes Narcissa had ordered from France. It was all ridiculously extravagant.

Then her eyes suddenly shot up. "You called me dear."

"Pardon me?" Narcissa asked in confusion.

"You called me dear," Hermione repeated. "You never even call me Hermione even though I've asked you to."

"Oh," Narcissa exclaimed. "I guess it felt natural. I'm sorry."

"No, please don't," Hermione said hurriedly, before sinking lower into the sofa. "I guess I still haven't internally accepted all of this as my reality. I'm still waiting for someone to pinch me so I wake up and laugh at how ridiculous all this is."

Narcissa looked at the young witch in front of her. "Miss Granger, are you having cold feet?"

"I've given my word, Mrs. Malfoy," Hermione said. "I won't go back on it. But surely you feel how absurd all this sounds?" Hermione realized she hadn't had the opportunity to think about the situation in depth, given that none of the usual people she could go to knew about it. She somehow found a good listener in Narcissa.

"I can definitely see where you're coming from," Narcissa said softly. "This family was part of so many atrocities, some of which you were on the receiving end of. I deeply apologize for that, Hermione. I really do. If I knew how to make it up, I would do anything to offer you that retribution."

Hermione leaned forward, and patted Narcissa's hand, offering a small smile. "Thank you for listening to me."

Narcissa smiled back. She was now excited, not only thankful, to have this witch be part of her family.  
-

"You look very han-some, Daddy," Scorpius said, from his seat in the center of the room. Draco was kntting his tie in front of the mirror, almost ready to go down and begin the festivities.

He smiled, and turned to his son. "Well, it seems like your choice really is the best."

"I told you!" his son said proudly. "The grey one would've looked yucky."

Draco laughed and picked his son up. Scorpius and Draco were both dressed in Scorpius' choice of a black suit with light grey shirts. Both had had their pale blonde hair combed to the side, and Scorpius had stolen one of the red roses Narcissa had used in the decorations to place in his pocket.

The entire home was filled with flowers and crystals, and the outdoor altar was covered in the softest white tulle, flowers in shades of red and white adorning the entire fabric, almost forming a roof on the heads of the guests.

"Ready to go, mate?" Draco asked his son.

"Yes, Daddy," Scorpius said. "Did you know there's four different kinds of cake? Nana Cissa said I can have one piece though. How is that fair?"

"That's definitely not fair," Draco said seriously. "You can have two."

"But, Daddy, four cakes!"

"Fine, two pieces, and two bites of the other flavours," Draco said, knowing that Scorpius would be in a sugar shock if he ate any more.

"Thank you, Daddy," Scorpius said, kissing his father on the cheek. He knew he'd be able to wrangle more cake later.

"Draco, are you ready?" Lucius popped in. "Your mother is having a fit because you're two minutes late already."

"Yes, father," Draco said. He moved to walk out of the room, Scorpius still in his arms.

"Son," Lucius said suddenly, causing Draco to turn around.

"Good luck," Lucius added. Draco nodded, and didn't say more. He could've sworn he saw a tinge of regret in Lucius' eyes.

Draco knew what he meant. He knew his father was apologizing in his own way for making him marry Astoria in the first place. Draco continued to walk, and shook his head. He was just glad that chapter was over.

Their divorce had officially occurred the previous day. He had met Astoria and her father in the Ministry records office, and not spoken a word as they signed the ministry documents and the pre-nuptial contract off. Just before leaving, Astoria had hissed at him violently.

 _"If you think marrying a mudblood is going to keep Scorpius away from me, you are wrong," she had said._

 _"You will do well to remember that is my future wife you are talking about," Draco had said calmly, a threat just under his tone. "And Scorpius will remain with me. You don't deserve him."_

 _"We'll see," Draco had said, and turned away to walk to the elevator._

 _"We will prove that this mudblood is not capable of taking care of our Scorpius," her father had chimed in. "Don't marry her, and save all of us the trouble."_

 _Draco entered the elevator and turned around to look at his ex-wife. "Scorpius. will. remain. with. me."_

 _Before they could reply to his calm threat, the elevator took Draco away._

Now, he stood at the altar, not unlike the one at his first wedding, and couldn't help but feel lighter. He knew nothing bad would come from this wedding, since it was fake in the first place.

He cleared his mind of all those thoughts, and smiled at the guests. He could see his parents bribing Scorpius with a box of bertie bott's to get him to sit still. He could see Harry, and a grumpy Ron next to his smirking sister, whose name Draco had forgotten. He saw Hermione's mother, and nodded and smiled at her.

The music began, signalling Hermione's entrance, and Draco stood up straight, and got into the character of a loving groom. He saw her at the end of the aisle, holding on to her father, and his smile dropped with his jaw.

She was dressed in a beautiful full skirted dress of tulle. The top was covered in a delicate lace that covered her arms, and went into a lovely sweetheart neckline. Her veil was also tulle, and flowed behind her as she took steps closer to him. In her hand was a lush bouqet of red roses and baby's breath.

"She's beautiful."

Draco agreed sincerely with his son's declaration. She looked absolutely stunning.

He stepped down to greet her father, who placed her hand in Draco's.

The Minister started his piece, but it was all a blur in Draco's mind, as he saw her smile nervously at him. He smiled back, and kept his eyes on hers as the minister continued, calling upon the heavens to witness the union, asking for objections, and finally asking Draco if he took Hermione to be his wife.

"I do."

"I do."

They exchanged wedding rings then, and turned around to face their families, in their facade of a happy couple when the minister finally pronounced them married.

They were almost about to step down from the platform, when the minister stopped them.

"Mr. Malfoy, you may now kiss your bride."

Draco's heart stopped right there. He had entirely forgotten about this part of the ceremony. He looked at Hermione, silently begging her not to flinch or protest in fear of alerting someone to their fake marriage.

He placed a hand around her waist, and bent her back slightly and pressed his lips to hers. It was about ten seconds in total, but the tingle Draco felt seemed to last forever. It had been a long time since he had kissed anyone.

He pulled away as the crowd cheered, and he couldn't make out what Hermione was thinking. She grabbed his hand as he seemed frozen to his spot, and pulled him across the aisle to their exit.

She finally stopped once they were inside the house, and turned around to him.

"Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

"We're married," he said.

"We're married," she repeated, trying to convince herself.

 **To be continued...**


	15. Then comes the first dance

Hermione's heart hadn't stopped beating fast all morning. From the time she woke up, her heartrate was the only reminder of what that day's plans were. The rest of her seemed to be on auto-pilot, almost as if she expected someone to pinch her awake from a weird dream.

When her mother had come into the guest suite Narcissa had allocated as the bridal suite, Hermione had to keep chanting to herself to keep smiling and to play the part of the blushing bride perfectly. It would do no good to have her parents or friends worry about her decision when she herself was so unsure of what she was about to do.

When she had been zipped and buttoned into the dress, however, she had felt like a true bride, and her heart had raced again once the veil was pinned into place. Narcissa had been right. No matter how fake the marriage, this was her first wedding, and she did feel beautiful in the white dress.

When her father had met her in her room, she almost cried with guilt. She was cheating her parents, and she knew they would be devastated with the breaking of her marriage. Her father had mistaken her teary eyes for nerves before such a big day, and had reassured her that he had his sports shoes ready for them to run away, attempting to lighten the mood.

Her heart raced even harder as she walked down the aisle, to a groom she had never imagined herself getting attached to. The steady, quick beat was all she could hear as she repeated the Minister's words, officially and legally marrying Draco Malfoy.

She thought her heart would pop out of her chest when she realized he would have to kiss her, and she swore it was in her throat when Draco's lips met hers.

And right now she felt her heartbeat in her stomach, as she danced with Draco, her _husband_ , all in the name of keeping up appearances.

Twenty minutes after the wedding, Narcissa had announced that the reception was open to all the guests, and another ten minutes later, Draco and Hermione had been ushered into the hall, wide smiles on their faces as if snipped from a magazine and glued to their lips. They had been content to sit at the table with the Grangers and the Malfoys, listening to Lucius, Richard, Harry and Theo give their toasts. Scorpius had made place for himself on Hermione's lap, and Hermione found that cuddling with the little boy gave her comfort.

To all the guests at the party, the three of them looked like a perfect family. Draco and Hermione would talk, maybe smile or even laugh, while Scorpius was curled up against Hermione. Then Scorpius would turn around and insist on playing dragon, broomstick, owl with Hermione and Draco and Scorpius would laugh when Hermione made a faux-sad face upon losing.

Then Narcissa had come over, and picked Scorpius up, gesturing to the newlyweds that they should go dance. The two had refused, pleading to be left comfortably in their chair, Hermione even claiming her feet hurt, but Narcissa had reminded them that Ministry officials were present and they had to act like a regular married couple.

So they had hesitantly made their way to the dance floor, both blushing furiously as their guests applauded, and strains of Can't help falling in love with you by Elvis Presley filled the room. They had gotten into position, and right before they started swaying to the music, Draco had pulled her closer after a glare from his mother. Now there was barely a half of an inch of separation between them, and Hermione had no choice except to place her forehead on his shoulder due to their height difference.

From her position, she could feel the heat from his body, and smell his cologne on his suit coat. He smelled like bergamot and amber and of rain, and she sighed and took a discrete but deeper whiff. She was painfully aware of his hand at her waist, pulling her closer, and she turned her head to look at their clasped hands, her small one captured in his larger hand.

When the song came to an end, they broke apart, and grinned at their guests before making their way back to their seats.

Hermione could swear Draco was blushing wildly. Maybe it was the awkwardness of having to be in such close proximity with someone he barely knew, and to act romantic with them at that.

If Hermione was honest, she could relate to the awkwardness.

If Hermione was being perfectly honest, she hadn't felt uncomfortable. Not during their dance, and not during their kiss.

 **(A/N: There you have Hermione's POV. Things are starting to get there now. Thank you for reading, and please let me know your thoughts. I love reading all of them, and seeing the story from a fresh perspective.)**


	16. Then comes a new home

"Do you need any help with that?" Draco asked, as he watched Hermione look around his house, a large cardboard box in her hand. Apparently, she had forgotten she could simply cast a _wingardium leviosa_ , and relieve herself of the manual labor.

It was the day after their wedding, and after spending the night at his parents place-in separate rooms-Hermione had apparated to her house to bring over her stuff, and Draco to his, to make sure she had enough room for her stuff.

"Oh, no. I'm fine," she said. "Where do I put this?"

Draco flashed her an embarassed smile. "I'm sorry, it's right this way."

He led her to Astoria's old bedroom. In his marriage to Astoria, she had insisted on having her own room and closet, so he had converted two of the guest rooms into one giant room for her. He used the in-built master bedroom for himself, and sometimes, Scorpius. Now he had had his elves clean and change the room to take away any remnants of its previous owner.

The room was decorated in shades of white and beige, the only color in the room coming from the wooden furniture, and the light blue carpet. It gave it a very beachy vibe, and made the room seem much larger and more airy. The room had an attached closet, which could easily be a whole room on its own, and the closet led into a giant bathroom. The bathroom had a shower and a tub, which had the most amazing hot jets. An entire mirrored wall sported a vanity with endless storage, so the counter itself could be neat, with only some luxury hand soap and lotion, a candle, and a vase of fresh flowers on top. Hermione looked around as Draco waited in the bedroom. She could get used to this house for sure. Her own master bathroom at her house had a single sink, and just a shower, so she had missed being able to take long baths.

She walked back out into the room, and saw Draco sitting on one of the chairs near the window.

"You have a beautiful house," she said politely.

"My parents gifted it to me when I got married to Astoria, and my mother sort of went crazy with the luxury and the decorations," he said sheepishly, and ran a hand through his hair.

"It's really lovely," she reiterated. None of them knew what to say.

"So, I'll leave you to rest for a bit," Draco finally spoke. "I have to go drop off Scorpius for school, and around 3 we have to go to the ministry. My parents will take care of him while we're gone."

Hermione had asked Kingsley to use his influence to have the custody hearing moved up a day. Of course explaining the whole situation had been tricky.

 _"I don't recall you having a relationship with Mr. Malfoy," Kingsley had said, his eyes full of suspicion. "In fact, you seemed pretty confused and taken aback with his personality change just last week."_

 _Hermione had laughed, having prepared and rehearsed her answers beforehand. "I didn't want to bring my personal life into my professional life, Minister. And we were just about to announce our wedding, so I wanted to surprise everyone. Besides, it was best we kept our relationship a secret since it started during his previous marriage, and we didn't want Scorpius to be negatively affected in any way."_

 _She had looked at him, trying to gauge his reaction. When she couldn't make it out, she had continued. "Will you do it?"_

 _"Yes, I have a favor I can call in with one of the members. I'll owl you the details," Kingsley had said._

 _"Thank you," Hermione had smiled, and stood up to leave._

 _"Hermione," Kingsley had called. "You understand the repercussions of all this if it comes out that you conspired with Mr. Malfoy, right?"_

 _"It's okay, Minister," Hermione had said. "I know what I'm doing. Thank you for your help."_

So today at 3 Draco and Scorpius' fate would be sealed. Until then, Draco would not be able to work, to think, or even to breathe.

"If it's okay, can I come with you to drop Scorpius?"

Draco looked at her questioningly.

"Well, it's inevitable that I am going to have to drop him to school sometime during this year, so I might as well learn now. And I think its best if he is able to bond with me, so we can genuinely say he'd be happier in this home, not only with you, but also with me."

Draco stood dumbfounded for a second, and then shook his head. Of course she thought way far ahead, and about things he would never have thought of.

"Okay, let's go," Draco said. "I must warn you though, he hates mornings."

Hermione chuckled, and followed him to Scorpius' room.

 **(A/N: Thank you for reading!)**


	17. Then comes the ruling

"I'm sorry, can you not do that?" Draco asked.

"Do what?" Hermione asked.

"Shake your leg like that?" Draco said.

Hermione frowned, but stopped. She knew it was just the nerves that were getting to him. After dropping Scorpius off at Draco's parents home, the two of them had floo'd to the Ministry, and were waiting in the Department of Social Services. They had checked in with the receptionist, and every second had felt like an hour of waiting. It was literally one of the most important events of Draco's life.

"I see your wife isn't here yet," Hermione remarked casually, noting that it was only seven minutes till 3.

"Ex-wife," Draco grumbled. "Or did you forget we got married just yesterday?"

"There's no need to be so grumpy," Hermione said calmly. "Try to smile and be nice; we'll get more people on our side if you come across as friendly."

"It's so hard, Granger. You have no idea..." Draco covered his face with his hands as his voice cracked with the threat of tears.

Hermione threw an arm around his shoulders and rubbed his arm softly. "It'll be okay, Draco. Scorpius will stay with you. I know we will win this case."

Draco nodded, and Hermione heard a sigh escape his lips. She prayed she would keep her optimism strong for the both of them. The Ministry had changed in a lot of ways since the war, it had changed its policies and laws to be more accepting, but it was far more archaic than its muggle equivalent. As a group, they still had extremely traditional views regarding family structures, and convincing them otherwise in an exceptional case was close to impossible. Hopefully, her position in the ministry would be of consideration when deciding Scorpius' fate.

"Draco," a voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up to see a dark haired, thin, beautiful woman walking towards them. This must be...

"Astoria," Draco acknowledged.

"I'd heard you went diving in garbage for a new wife," Astoria said, looking Hermione from head to toe condescendingly. "Are you so desparate to save some money that you'd marry a mudblood?"

Hermione stood up in anger, wand in hand and hex on the tip of her tongue. Before she could do anything, Draco stood up in front of her, and Hermione could see the muscles in his shoulders shiver in...anger?

"How dare you, you filthy woman?" he whispered darkly. "She is my wife, and a thousand times better woman than you will ever be. And a better mother to Scorpius, due to whom I'm even bringing myself to look at your disgusting face again."

"You don't scare me, Draco," Astoria said, her eyes narrowed. "I know you married this...thing, just to keep your son and your money, and I won't let you have either. Daddy will make sure we win both."

"What kind of a mother are you?!" Hermione interrupted then. "How can you compare your son and some money? What kind of a monster-?"

"How dare you speak to me, you mudbl-"

Before she could complete her sentence, Draco had his wand underneath her chin, his eyes threatening her to say another word.

Hermione looked around, and saw some ministry workers leaning out of their office to see what was happening. It would do them no favors if Draco hexed Astoria right now. She placed a hand on his arm, and whispered that they should go to the courtroom before Astoria caused any more trouble. Draco dropped his wand, and glared at Astoria before following Hermione to the dark room.

Draco only felt ringing in his ears throughout the trial. At first he thought it might be the room, then he realized it might be his heart. His body refused to move or react as the trial proceeded, as lawyers from both sides argued and debated, as he watched Astoria, then her father, then Hermione take their turn to be questioned by the Wizengamot.

He didn't even hear his name being called, and only got up when Hermione nudged him.

"Please state your name for the record," the Wizengamot head called.

"Draco Abraxas Malfoy."

"Mr. Malfoy, why do you think your household is more suitable for Scorpius Lucius Malfoy then of Ms. Greengrass'?"

Draco looked at the Wizengamot, and then towards the side, where Hermione sat on one end, and Astoria and her father sat on the other end, whispering to their lawyers. He turned and spoke the most honest words he had ever spoken openly.

"Because I love him. And he loves me. I put him above anything and everything in the world. He is my entire life. I know that his mother does not feel that way, and you would ruin the boys life if you gave him to her."

Astoria's lawyer stood up in protest, and the Wizengamot acknowledged his protest.

"Mr. Malfoy, I asked you why he should be in your and your wife's care. Whether or not Ms. Greengrass is a suitable parent is something we will decide, not you," the leader reprimanded him. "Can you answer appropriately this time?"

Draco took a deep breath. "Because I love him. That doesn't change. Not friends, not work, not my own interests come above my son for me. And my wife and Scorpius have bonded very closely. She is already a very responsible and caring mother for my son, and both of us will work very hard to make sure he has every thing he needs or wants, and that he grows up to be an intelligent, honest and loving boy."

The members nodded in acceptance of his answer, and the leader moved to his next question. "Ms. Greengrass has alerted us to the possibility that your marriage to Ms. Hermione Granger is fake, and that she is aiding you to present a complete home to us so you can keep your son and get out of the stipulations your previous contract stated. Is this true?"

"Definitely not. We love each other, and our son a lot."

The leader looked at Hermione for possible cracks in her facade. Upon finding none, he turned back to Draco. "That's all the questions we have for you.

All visitors may now leave, until called back in to hear the verdict."

Astoria and her father followed their lawyers, talking to him in hushed whispers, while Hermione waited for Draco to leave the room.

"How do you think that went?" he asked her.

"I honestly have no idea," she said. "Do you think they believe us?"

"I hope so," Draco said with a loud sigh, and prayed silently to every entity for the best case scenario.

After twenty minutes, the attendant had called for all of them to return to the courtroom. The Wizengamot had made their decision.

Draco took a seat next to Hermione, and decided to let go of any awkwardness in his need for human contact. He took her hand and squeezed it tightly as he waited for the result.

 _"We, the Wizengamot, hereby declare that upon consideration of the testimony from both sides, Draco Malfoy and Astoria Greengrass shall both get an equal chance to prove their ability to care for Scorpius Malfoy. For six months, both households will be inspected for quality of life for Scorpius Malfoy. If the nature of the family is deemed fake, or the house is certified unfit for Scorpius Malfoy, the custody shall immediately be transferred to the other party, and cannot be appealed for a year from the date of transfer. During the inspections, Scorpius Malfoy shall continue to reside with Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger Malfoy, so the he is not disturbed with sudden changes. If the inspector so requires, Draco Malfoy will leave Scorpius Malfoy with Astoria Greengrass for the duration specified so that inspections can be thorough. Based on the final reports from both sides, the custody will be placed with the party that is deemed most fit to be the caregiver. This session is now closed, and unless an emergency meeting is called, the case will now be opened on 12 January, 2007."_

Draco couldn't hold the tears back now. This was definitely not a win or the best case scenario.

 **To be continued...**


	18. Then comes the first night

"Miss Hermione, is Daddy okay?" Scorpius asked, his wide eyes breaking Hermione's heart into a million pieces. She had taken it upon herself to tuck Scorpius in for sleep that night, while Draco had locked himself in his bedroom.

"He's going to be fine," Hermione said, sure that all these lies were going to send her to hell. "Did you want me to read you a story tonight?"

Scorpius thought for a second before looking at her hesitantly. "Will you cuddle with me? Daddy gives the best cuddles, and I really missed him today."

"Of course, I'll cuddle with you," Hermione said with a gentle laugh. "Though, I might not be as good as Daddy at it."

She shuffled into the bed, and Scorpius immediately threw his arms around her waist and hugged her close. Hermione lightly brushed his hair with her hands, her heart heavy with previously unknown and unfelt emotions. Everyone had always told her she would make a great mum, and her job as Education Secretary had allowed her a lot of time listening to children tell her about their issues and their days, as she tried to figure out ways to make the existing schools better. But she had never experienced such an attachment and love from any child as she felt from Scorpius. He had taken to her instantly, and she felt herself attached to the child as if he were her own in just the span of a week.

"Miss Hermione?" Scorpius asked timidly.

"Yes, Scorpius?"

"Did Daddy meet Mother today? Is that why he is sad?"

"He's not sad, sweetheart," Hermione answered. "He's just tired."

"He always says he's tired after meeting Mother, too."

Hermione didn't know how to answer any further, so she hummed, and pulled him closer in a bid to get him to stop worrying and sleep. She felt so comfortable herself, that she found herself dozing off to sleep.

"Miss Hermione?" Scorpius' voice broke her out of her sleep.

"Yes, Scorpius?"

"Can I call you Mummy?" a timid voice asked. "Miss Hermione is too long to say, and Flora told me in school today that you're my step-mum, but I didn't know what that meaned, so I asked Grandma, and she said you're my Mummy. So can I call you Mummy?"

"Would you like to call me Mummy?" Hermione asked slowly, not wanting to break the little boy's heart.

Scorpius nodded. "I've never had a Mummy before."

"You had Astoria," Hermione reminded, wanting to know what he thought of his mother.

"Mother? She never gave me hugs or cuddled with me," Scorpius said simply. "She never came out with Daddy and me to get ice-cream, so we would just sneak back to the house or she would scream. Daddy told to just put my fingers in my ear when she screamed. It was so loud, I didn't like her very much."

Then as an afterthought, he added. "Don't tell Daddy I told you our secret."

Hermione smiled. "Don't worry. I pinky promise I won't tell Daddy."

"What's a pinky promise?"

"You don't know what a pinky promise is?" Hermione asked. "Sit up, and I'll show you."

Scorpius sat up excitedly, and looked at Hermione's hand with her pinky finger extended.

"Okay, so hold out your pinky finger just like mine," Hermione explained, and looping her finger with his once he followed her. "Now this is a promise none of us will break. See?"

"Really?"

"Really!"

Scorpius hugged her, and Hermione laughed and laid him back under his covers.

"Now, go to sleep, and Daddy will come wake you up in the morning. Okay?"

Scorpius nodded, and asked. "Promise?"

"Pinky promise," Hermione replied, and turned off his light and turned on the night light.

"Good night, Mummy," he said, a yawn muffling his words.

"Good night, sweetheart," Hermione said, shutting the door and dabbing away the tears from her eyes.

One Malfoy down, the other to go.

She knocked hesitantly on Draco's door when she saw light peeking out from the door.

"Draco? Are you okay?" she called out when he didn't open the door.

She heard shuffling in the room, but he didn't open the door.

"Draco, I'm coming in," she called out after another minute, and used her wand to cast a quick Alohomora on the door.

Draco was lying face down on his bed, his legs dangling off the end. As she moved closer to him, she saw he was holding on to a picture of Scorpius on a toy broom.

She sat at the corner of the bed, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Draco..."

He looked up at her, and her breath hitched as she saw his eyes bloodshot, his hair messed up. She saw a broken man.

"They're going to take away my baby," he said, a sob breaking his voice. "They're going to take away my child, and I don't know how I will live."

"No!" Hermione said firmly. "No one is going to take Scorpius away. We will pass these inspections, and Astoria will fail them. There's no way she can pass and we can fail. Scorpius is his happiest with you, and even a fool will be able to see that. I'm sure the inspector will see the bond between you two and will never be able to give Scorpius to _her_ over you."

"B-but-"

"No buts," she repeated. "I'm on your team now, and my side never loses." She joked in an attempt to make him laugh.

It worked, as he let out a small laugh, unshed tears falling on to the bedspread from his movement.

Hermione wiped the remainder from the bridge of his nose, and whispered softly. "In six months from now, Scorpius will be given to you. I guarantee it."

"But what about us? You heard what they said," Draco said. "They know this is a fake marriage. And Astoria has a real marriage."

"They only have a hint that this is fake," she reminded him. "They have no proof. And we won't let them get any proof. I'm in this with you. I won't let Scorpius' life be ruined."

"But you hate me," he said.

"I don't hate you," she said softly. "I don't think I like you, yet. But I do have respect for you. Do you hate me?"

He shook his head.

"Well, then that's sorted," she laughed. "Move up the bed, and go to sleep. Scorpius was worried, and I told him you'll wake him up in the morning."

He obediently followed her instructions, and she pulled up the blanket from under him, and covered him with it. As she had done with Scorpius, she turned off his overhead light, and turned on the dim night-light.

"Good night, Draco," she said, moving to swing his door shut.

"Thank you, Hermione," a small voice spoke. "For everything."

She smiled, and shut the door, making her way back to her own room.

This was going to be a long night, as she thought and analyzed everything that was going on.

 **To be continued...**


	19. Then comes a maternal instinct

Draco woke up with a terrible headache the next day, something Hermione had already anticipated apparently, as she woke him up and placed a bottle of Anti-Headache potion in his hand, and reminded him to wake Scorpius up.

The boy had woken up happily for the first time in forever, and hugged his father close to make sure he was okay. Draco found himself feeling much happier and lighter as he pulled his son closer to him, not wanting to leave him for even a second.

Hermione walked in after five minutes, and offered to take Scorpius for a bath, and allow Draco some time to clean himself up. The father and son had reluctantly separated, only after a glare from Hermione.

Draco found that he was actually thankful for the bath. He felt a lot more refreshed, and less worried about the previous day's happenings. He stood under the shower for longer than usual, the hot water massaging the stress away from his back. As he pulled on his shirt, he realized he hadn't had so much time to himself in the mornings in ages. It was usually a rush in the mornings as he got Scorpius and himself ready in time to drop him to school and to check into his own morning meetings.

He walked into the kitchen for breakfast to see Scorpius perched on a chair across the island, and Hermione having taken over the kitchen.

"Where are Sully and Jubilee?" Draco asked Hermione.

"I gave them the day off," Hermione explained simply.

"They were crying, Daddy," Scorpius informed him, his mouth full of toast and baked beans.

"Don't talk while you're chewing, buddy," Draco reminded him. "Were they sick?" He turned to Hermione.

"No, I like making breakfast on my own, and I thought they could relax today," she said.

"You know they're here to do work, right?" Draco asked her incredulously. "They don't like being given holidays."

"They deserve some time off though!" Hermione said, spatula raised violently.

"Mummy, can I have some more chocolate milk, please?" Scorpius interrupted, putting an end to their inevitable fight before it began.

Draco looked at Hermione confusedly. She gestured that he get the milk so she could explain the situation to him away from Scorpius' hearing range.

"I'm so sorry, I should've cleared it with you before I agreed. He just asked me last night, and I couldn't say no, and I realize I shouldn't have. It's probably overstepping-" Hermione whispered quickly.

Draco placed his hands on her shoulders and smiled at her. "It's okay. I don't mind. As long as you're okay with it."

Hermione nodded. "I still should've asked you. I just-"

"Why are you whispering over there?" Scorpius' annoyed voice called out. "It's not good to keep secrets, Daddy."

"We were just talking about maybe going out for ice-cream after dinner today?" Draco turned to his son. "How does that sound?"

"Amazing, of course," Scorpius said. He turned to Hermione and asked, "Mummy, will you come with us too? I know all the best flavours."

Hermione looked at Draco, and when he nodded, she replied. "Of course, I'll come with you. But I get two bites from your ice-cream," she said, moving towards Scorpius and tickling him lightly.

He burst out into a bout of laughter, and breathed, "Mummy, stop! Just one bite!"

Hermione pretended to be hurt, and frowned. "Fine, just one."

"No, don't be sad," Scorpius said, jumping out of chair to hug Hermione. "You can have two if you want."

Draco looked at the two and smiled. He was glad Scorpius was bonding with Hermione, and would have a good maternal figure in his life for the next year. Of course, they would have to be careful not to get too attached now. He reminded himself to request that Hermione occassionally meet with Scorpius even after their arrangement came to an end. He had already asked so much of her, he felt awkward asking for yet another thing. But looking at Hermione with Scorpius, he wouldn't be surprised if she herself suggested the same thing.

"You ready for school, mate?" Draco asked.

"Yes!" Scorpius said. "Miss Alison said we are going to do finger painting today! Flora and Eddie said they're going to make the best painting. But I'm going to make the best one. Right, Daddy?"

"Of course, you are," Draco said, picking his son up in his arms. "Do you want to come too?" he asked Hermione.

"Yeah, sure, if Scorpius wants me to," Hermione smiled.

"Yes, Mummy," Scorpius said. "You can meet all my friends today!"

"That sounds great," Hermione said, gathering up the plates and pans and cleaning them with a quick _Scourgify._ "Let's go!"

* * *

"Are you going to your office, or are you just going to come with me?" Draco asked, as they walked to the apparition point near Scorpius' school.

Scorpius had grabbed Hermione's hand as soon as they had entered the school, and introduced her to all his friends rather proudly. Now, the two adults were ready to go back to work after three days of leave.

"Well, we have a meeting with the architecture firm in an hour," Hermione said. "So we can just go over everything else before then, and I can go back to my office after the meeting."

"Sounds good," Draco said, and grabbed her arm and apparated them to his office.

"Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Malfoy," Ida stood up as they appeared in the lobby. "Congratulations on your wedding."

"Thank you, Ida," Draco replied with a smile, directing Hermione to his office before all the other workers came out of their offices and started congratulating them.

"It's Hermione, please," Hermione said with a smile to the witch.

Ida nodded, and Draco shut his office door behind them.

"Stop being so rude," Hermione reprimanded him.

"Sorry," Draco said quickly. "Did you want to be caught up in a swarm of a hundred people congratulating you?"

Hermione thought for a second. "No," she said slowly.

"Well, then, let's get started," Draco said, and took his seat behind his desk.

They worked for the next hour, bickering over ideas, enthusiastically filling out fields that they were unsure of previously. Their meeting with the architect went well, too, and he promised them that construction could start the following week if they approved his design and the Ministry approval came through within the next two days. Hermione and Draco had looked at each other excitedly. They could definitely have the school finished and opened in time for September.

At around noon, Hermione stood up, and started collecting her papers to go back to her office.

Draco leaned back in his chair, and stretched his arms above his head. Just as Hermione was about to leave his office, he called out. "Are you hungry?"

"A little," Hermione replied. "I was just going to get something from the Ministry cafeteria, and eat in my office, actually."

"Wow, how exciting," Draco snarked.

"It isn't bad food," Hermione retorted.

"Let's go out for lunch," Draco said, pulling his robe over his pant and shirt. "At least it'll be better than not-bad-food."

Before Hermione could protest, he had floo'd them over to a restaurant she didn't recognize.

"Do you always do what you want no matter what anyone else might think?" she asked, dusting the soot of her robes.

"I promise you, you'll love the food here," Draco said, a knowing smirk taking over his face.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and followed him and the maître d' to a table.

She sat down across from him, and placed her bag and her binders in the chair next to hers.

"Where are we anyway?" she asked, looking around.

"Diagon Alley," he replied, not lifting his eyes from the menu.

"I've never seen this part before," she said.

"Really?" he asked. "I've been coming here all my life."

"I guess it's because I just go to Muggle London when I get time off," she said, picking her menu up.

"And what do you do there?" he asked, now intrigued with her revelation.

"I don't know, nothing specific," she shrugged. "I just go to my parent's place, go to all the places I went to as a child, eat street food, maybe take the train to all the tourist-y places. I even went to Thorpe Park once. That was really scary."

"How is a park scary? And muggles eat food in the street?"

Hermione laughed. "No, it's a type of cuisine, if you will. Like fried food, or fusion food, something you don't need to sit down and eat. I guess anything travel friendly. And it was a theme park, so it had these giant rollercoasters. Which are these structures, that people can take a safe car in and ride. They go really fast, and most are really high. It's super fun and scary because there are sudden drops and loops that turn you all the way around."

"You got on those, and you won't even go close to a broom?" he teased.

"Well, I was strapped safely into the rollercoaster. Broom's have no safety. You can break a bone, or die riding a broom," she said exasperatedly.

"You're watching the wrong people ride brooms if you think people die riding them," he laughed.

"I've seen people fall," Hermione defended herself.

"Only during Quidditch," Draco retorted. "When have you seen someone fall of a leisure ride?"

"Why would you want to take a leisure ride on what is essentially a magic stick?"

"Why would you want to go all the way around in what is essentially a metal stand?"

Hermione thought, and acceded when she couldn't come up with a reply. "I guess it's just one of those things everyone thinks their way is better about."

"My way is better, though," Draco muttered under his breath, his eyes fixed on the menu.

Hermione glared at him. "You-you're so stubborn!"

"And you're not?" Draco asked, one eyebrow raised daringly.

Hermione huffed, determined not to prove his point. "Okay, so what's good here?"

* * *

After an actually amazing lunch, Hermione and Draco had returned to their respective offices. Draco had apparated to Scorpius' school, and brought him back when his clock reminded him his son was done for the day. Draco finished his work, while Scorpius played on the sofa's in Draco's office, occasionally bringing in Ida to help him with his toy or to show her his painting.

When the two went back home, Hermione had still not returned, so Draco had changed out of his work clothes and was now sprawled on the living room floor with his son, as Scorpius taught him how to finger paint. After learning it at school, Scorpius was intent on having his father learn, rebuking him like an adult if Draco did something Scorpius hadn't asked.

"What's going on here?" Hermione called out, as she stepped out of the floo.

"I'm teaching Daddy how to finger paint, Mummy," Scorpius explained excitedly, holding up Draco's painting of a squid underwater to show Hermione.

"Oh, wow," Hermione said, throwing her bag and robe off to the sofa, and kneeling on the floor near Scorpius. "And where's yours?"

"It's in my room," Scorpius said. "I'll go get it!"

Hermione looked at Draco, and bit her lip to stifle her laughter at seeing him spread on the floor.

"What?" Draco asked, noticing her laugh.

"Nothing," Hermione said, failing to keep her laughter in.

"Don't laugh," Draco warned, stifling a laugh of his own now.

Hermione shook her head solemnly, and placed a finger on her mouth. Her flared nostrils gave her away, though.

"Mummy, see," Scorpius called out, holding out his painting for her to see. "See, that's our house, and that's Daddy, and that's me, and that's you, and that's Sully, and that's Jubilee. Miss Alison put it on the class board for the day for everyone to see. Do you like it?"

"I love it," Hermione said, her eyes glazed with tears.

"Mummy, don't be sad," Scorpius said, climbing into her lap when he noticed her tears.

"No, I'm not sad, sweetheart," she said. "You're just too sweet, and I love the painting."

"You can keep it if you want," Scorpius offered, still not placated. "I can make Daddy another one, and then you can both have matching paintings."

"That would be lovely," Hermione said, and hugged the boy close.

"We still have to go for ice-cream today, don't forget," Scorpius said, wriggling away from Hermione's hold.

"I can never forget ice-cream, mate," Draco said.

"Okay, then I'm going to get started on Daddy's painting," Scorpius said, gathering his paint tubes. "Daddy go wash your hands. You'll eat the paint and get sick otherwise."

Hermione cooked for dinner as well, and Draco found he actually enjoyed eating at the kitchen table, rather than the dining room. It was more casual and relaxed, as conversation flowed between the three of them. Scorpius loved telling them stories from his day, and Draco noticed Hermione would nod and ask questions. She didn't even look like she was pretending to be interested. It also didn't hurt that Hermione was a great cook. Her mashed potatoes were perfect, and her chicken was the best chicken he had ever had.

They made their way to Florean's after dinner, and Scorpius seemed thrilled just to have Hermione there. He held her hand all the time, and helped her decide which flavour to get.

Draco had tucked him into bed once they were back, and was just about to go for a shower, when he heard knocking on his door. He opened to see Hermione standing, looking rather nervous.

"We need to talk."

* * *

 **(A/N: Oooh, is that a good "we need to talk" or a bad "we need to talk". Let me know what you thought of this chapter! Thank you for reading)**


	20. Then comes living together

Draco's heart pounded under his ribs as he watched Hermione pace around the room. What did she want to talk about?

"Are you leaving?" he asked bluntly, when he could no longer take the silence.

Hermione stopped mid-walk and looked at him as if he were a lunatic.

"What?" she asked, her eyes narrowed and her forehead crinkled in confusion.

"Do you want to break out of the contract?" Draco asked, forcing himself to remain calm.

"Are you insane?" Hermione asked, her hands on her hips. "Do you think that little of me?"

"Well, forgive me for immediately thinking of the worst. Everything has been going extremely well in my life recently, you see," Draco retorted sarcastically.

"You should know that my word means a true vow. I never go back on what I've promised," Hermione said.

Draco's features softened at her words. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Hermione said hurriedly, restarting her mission to walk a hole into Draco's carpet.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, so, the thing is," Hermione said slowly, coming to a stop in front of the bed. "I was thinking about what you said before, about the Ministry knowing about our contract and everything, and I started to re-read the documentation they gave us."

"Of course you did," Draco muttered.

Hermione glared at him before continuing. "Anyway, I don't think I processed all this correctly that day, but if the inspector or anyone from the Ministry or outside the Ministry finds out that this is fake, they will halt inspections right then and allow Astoria to take Scorpius without possibility of an appeal for three years."

"What?!" Draco exclaimed.

"Yeah," Hermione said, not knowing how to console Draco.

"Why are they doing this?" Draco asked. "Why can't they just see that Scorpius is happier with me and just leave us be?"

"I think they just want to appear fair," Hermione said. "The result will be in your favor. It has to be."

Draco nodded, and slumped back in the sofa.

"Well, actually, there's more," Hermione said.

Draco looked at her in confusion.

"We're going to have to start behaving like a family and a couple if you want to make sure Scorpius stays with you," Hermione said quickly, finally having the courage to say what she had on her mind. "We're going to have to be seen out at dinners together, getting ice-cream, maybe going to a ball even. We need to amp up the facade in public so no one can say that they think we are fake. I also think I need to be seen with just Scorpius sometimes so no one can question our relation either. Maybe I could bring him to my office instead of yours after his school ends..."

Hermione waited for Draco's reaction, knowing how much he loved his time alone with his son. When Draco nodded in acceptance, she continued to the topic she was dreading the most.

"I also think I will have to move into this room. If an inspector shows up, it wouldn't be easy to explain why my stuff is in the other room, or why I may be spending time or napping there. I can just sleep on the couch, but have my stuff here."

Draco looked at her. Sharing a room? Even he and Astoria hadn't done that. How would it even work?

Could it work?

"I'll sleep on the couch," he declared after having thought about every possibility for the past five minutes.

"No, no," Hermione protested. "This is your room, and the couch is big enough for me."

"No, you're doing enough for us as it is," Draco shook his head firmly. "I'm going to sleep on the couch."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but closed it and nodded slowly when she saw the look on Draco's face. Now she felt guilty. It was true that the most important reason she was doing all this was to keep Scorpius at home where he belonged, but Kingsley's words kept ringing in her ears. She had taken her possible firing and Ministry reprimand if her involvement in the lie came to surface when she was thinking of everything they needed to do to pass the inspections. She loved her job, and didn't want to lose it.

Draco stood up and disappeared into his closet. When he returned, his arms were full with a pillow and a large blanket.

"You can just sleep here tonight, then," he said, as he dusted the couch and placed the pillow on one end. "We can move your stuff into the closet in the morning."

"I can just-" Hermione started.

"It's fine," Draco said, turning over his shoulder to look at her. "Might as well get in a practice round today."

Hermione chuckled softly, and nodded. She climbed under the cover, and rested her head on the pillow.

"Good night, Hermione," Draco said.

"Good night, Draco," she replied.

He cast a quick _Nox_ to turn off the lights, and turned on his side to go to sleep.

Hermione sighed, and closed her eyes, pulling the comforter higher towards her. Everything smelled like bergamot, and amber, and the land just as the rain hits it.

* * *

 **(A/N: Okay so a couple of announcements.**

 **1) I'm looking to change the title of the story. When I started writing this, I just envisioned Hermione's first scene and just gave it the title "White". Now that the story has progressed and you know the direction I'm going for, I'd love some suggestions about possible titles. For the person who comes up with the best title, (which we can have a poll for or I can just choose the one I like best-let me know which you'd prefer on this as well) I will write a one-shot based on a prompt they like best!**

 **2) Sometimes (most of the times) I post two chapters in one day very close to each other. I think that's confusing some people, so I just want to make sure everyone is reading all the chapters and not ending up confused by a random jump. If you'd rather not have to check for two updates and just have me post one chapter a day, let me know this as well!**

 **Thank you for reading you guys! )**


	21. Then comes the inspector

Draco woke up confused about his surroundings. Why was he hanging off his sofa instead of the bed? He rubbed his eyes and sat up to see an empty, neat bed.

Oh, right. He was now sharing his room with Hermione Granger. How his twelve year old self would've laughed if someone told him of his future.

He made his way to the bathroom to get ready for the day, when he saw a pile of his shirts on the bench in the middle of the dressing room. What was happening here?

He opened the cupboard to his right, and instead of his monochromatic shirts in their usual place, he saw hangers upon hangers of dresses, coats, pants and shirts in every color possible squeezed into the space.

Hermione had officially moved in.

* * *

"Now let's do fifty to sixty," Draco heard Hermione say, as he made his way to the kitchen for breakfast.

"Fifty-one, Fifty-three, Fifty-four, Fifty-six-" he heard Scorpius rattle off.

"You missed fifty-five, buddy," Draco corrected.

"Daddy!" Scorpius said, and jumped up on the chair to hug his father.

"You're up early," Draco remarked as he hugged his son.

"Yes," Scorpius said. "Mummy came and woke me up and said she's making pancakes. Pancakes, Daddy!"

"I see," Draco said, placing his son back on his chair. The boy went back to dipping his pancake in fruit syrup and eating quickly. It was a rare treat for him, so he intended to eat as much as he could.

"Where are my elves?" Draco asked Hermione, moving into the kitchen to avoid Scorpius overhearing anything.

"I gave them the day off," Hermione said, pouring a ladle of batter onto the hot pan.

"You gave them yesterday off, too," Draco said slowly.

"Yes, and I think I'm going to cook breakfast everyday," Hermione turned around.

"You can't do that," Draco said exasperatedly. "It's their job to do the housework, and they like doing it, and they're good at it."

"Are you saying I'm not good at it?" Hermione hissed, causing Draco to take a step back.

"I didn't say that," he said. "Merlin, you're acting ridiculous woman."

"Listen here-"

"No you listen to me. Sully and Jubilee-"

"Are slaves and I don't-"

"How dare you? They aren't slaves-"

"I'm not going to stand by and watch innocent beings be mistreated by-"

"They are not mistreated. They are-"

"Daddy, this lady says she's here to see you," Scorpius' voice interrupted their argument.

Hermione and Draco turned to see a middle aged woman with a stern look on her face. Her black robes were embroidered with the Ministry logo.

And she had heard their entire fight.

"Scorpius, you know you're not supposed to open the door on your own," Draco moved forward, picking his son up into his arms. Hermione stood frozen, thankful that Draco could operate as her brain was currently refusing to co-operate.

"Hello, Ma'am," Draco addressed the inspector. "I am Draco Malfoy, and this is my wife, Hermione."

Hermione found her faculties return, and quickly pasted a smile on her face and made her way to shake the woman's hand.

"I'm Gina Hobble, and I'm your inspector for the custody case of one Scorpius Lucius Malfoy," the woman replied in a clipped tone. "Mr. Malfoy, do you realize how dangerous it is for your son to be answering the door alone?"

"Well Ms. Hobble, the wards on the house will not allow anyone except for individuals I allow or a law enforcement agent onto the property," Draco replied calmly. "No one who would cause my son any harm. I've made sure they're good and strong."

"Daddy what is a cut-sody?" Scorpius interrupted. He did not like this woman.

"Nothing to worry about, sweetheart," Hermione answered, reaching for Scorpius and pulling him into her hold. "Ms. Hobble, if you don't mind, can I have Scorpius go play inside while we talk. I don't want him to worry unnecessarily."

The lady nodded. "I will interview Scorpius later this week."

Hermione nodded, and took Scorpius to his room.

"Mummy, who is that lady?" Scorpius asked, as Hermione called for Sully to watch him.

"She's a friend of Daddy's, sweetheart," she said. "You don't worry, and play. I'll come back in a bit to take you to school, okay?"

"Okay, Mummy," Scorpius said, directing his attention to his dragon play set.

Hermione placed a kiss on his forehead, and wiped her hands on her apron as she made her way to the kitchen.

"Do you fight a lot in front of him, Mr. Malfoy," Ms. Hobble was asking.

"No, this was the first time, and rather unfortunate as our argument was unexpected," Draco said calmly.

"And do you fight a lot in general? Is it due to your incompatibility as a couple?"

Hermione felt herself getting angry, and moved forward to put the woman in her place. Who did she think she was, coming into their home and questioning them on such intimate things? Draco saw this, however, and calmly managed the situation.

"Ms. Hobble, I'm sure if you ask even the couple who has been married for fifty years, you would be told that they still have fights. They're a part and parcel of married life, and as long as they're insignificant topics, I don't believe any child or relationship is harmed. In fact, I think minor fights in a marriage are quite healthy, and imply deep caring of the topic and of each other. My wife and I are a regular couple in this matter. We fight as we are both strong headed, but we wouldn't let a fight get in the way of our marriage."

The inspector nodded, and made a note on her clipboard.

"It's quite well known that the two of you didn't get along together as children. Don't you think that will be an issue in providing a happy home for Scorpius?"

Hermione moved forward then, and answered before Draco. "Those were school-yard rivalries, Ms. Hobble. No sane adult holds onto any of them once they leave school. My husband is now good friends with all my school friends as well, people he didn't get along with in school either. And as for providing a happy home for Scorpius, we make sure he isn't aware of any past issues between us, and focus on loving him and each other as we move forward." Hermione saw Draco's mouth turn into a smirk over the inspector's head, and quickly regain his angelic smile the moment she turned her head.

"Is that the way of it, Mr. Malfoy?"

He quickly nodded. "Absolutely, Ms. Hobble."

"Then that's all I have right now," she said, standing up. "Scorpius will have his interview with the inspectors this Friday at 2. All other inspections and interviews will be random, so do not take any trips outside the country for a while. Good day."

Hermione and Draco followed her to the door, and waved her goodbye, clearly looking like lunatics with big smiles and large waves.

As soon as they heard the sound of disapparition, they shut the door, and slumped against the warm wood.

"That was a terrible start," Draco said.

"I didn't think it went that bad," Hermione remarked. "Thank god you handled it, cause I would've still been stuck to that spot if you hadn't started speaking."

"What about you?" he teased. " _Good friends with_ _Potter and Weasley? And loving him and each other?_ "

He earned a smack to the head for the exaggerated impression, and both of them found themselves bent over in laughter.

"Let's go get Scorpius," Hermione said in between laughs. "He'll be late for school."

Draco nodded, and pushed off the door.

"Hermione?"

"Yes, Draco?" she turned over her shoulder.

"I pay my elves a monthly salary, you know. They're here because they want to be."

"What?"

"They aren't slaves," Draco said, all laughter wiped off his face.

"You really do that?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"I really do."

Hermione stared at him for a bit, before smiling a little. "That-that's good then."

Draco nodded. "Let's go, or all of us are going to be late today."

* * *

 **(A/N: Hope you liked that! Thank you for reading!)**


	22. Then comes the routine life

The days leading up to Scorpius' interview were a new routine for Draco. Every morning, Draco would wake up on the couch, slightly cranky about the uncomfortable bed he was destined to for the next six months at least, and make his way to the bathroom. There he would let out a string of expletives over the wet floor, and the coconut and strawberry fog that had settled over every surface of the bathroom after Hermione's shower. After a quick shower, trying to block out the previous smells, he would get dressed and go to the kitchen to see Hermione and Scorpius at the kitchen island eating breakfast, even as Hermione tried to fit in some quick learning sessions for Scorpius. Draco would hug his son, and sit down and eat his own breakfast, watching his son rattle of the alphabet, or sing some weird muggle songs. As soon as they were all done, they would floo to Scorpius' school, drop him off, and then apparate to their own workplaces. Hermione ended up in Draco's office anyway, with a new form or proposal to show him, and they had taken to going for lunch together. Draco had proposed it to her as a way of showing up in public as a couple.

To be honest, he enjoyed those lunches. Other than girlfriend's in Hogwarts and the occasional friend that showed up later, he had exclusively had lunch alone in his office for the last six years. Astoria was almost never in the country, and when she was, she chose to catch up with her old friends. He found that he enjoyed having a light moment in his day, where he would argue, and banter and tease Hermione about any topic that popped into his head. It also served the triple purpose of getting his mind of the nights. He still couldn't believe he was sharing a room with Hermione Granger.

Every night, the two would tuck Scorpius into bed, and make their way to Draco's room. Hermione would sit on the bed, leaning over a wide spread of documents she had to go over, while Draco would either go over some work, or just read the newspaper. After an hour of silence, Hermione would ask if he was done, and turn off the lights when he nodded yes. After ten minutes of rustling, Draco would find a comfortable position on the couch, and Hermione would settle into the bed.

Then the next morning, the same routine would begin.

* * *

"I'll see you around lunch then?" Draco asked Hermione, as they walked Scorpius to Ms. Hobble's office for his interview.

"Sounds good," Hermione said, as she pressed the elevator button for her floor and for Draco's destination.

Just then MLE officer Bones and Auror Dewer walked into the elevator, and smiled at Hermione.

"Hello, Susan," Hermione greeted. "Morning, Christopher."

"Hello, Hermione," Susan said. "I haven't seen you in a while. I guess congratulations are in order."

Hermione smiled, and linked her arm with Draco's. "Yes, this is my husband, Draco. Draco, this is Susan from the MLE office, and this is Christopher from the Auror department."

"Hello," Draco nodded. "Pleased to meet you."

"And this is Scorpius," Hermione continued. "Scorpius, say hello."

Scorpius shyly held out his hand for the two adults. He usually didn't do well with strangers.

"He's precious," Susan remarked. "Truly."

"Thank you," Hermione said, and smiled at the young boy.

"Well, this is where we get off," Draco said, as the elevator came to a stop, and picked Scorpius up.

"Bye, sweetheart," Hermione said to Scorpius, and quickly pecked him on the cheek.

"Bye, Mummy," Scorpius said quietly. He was often reserved in spaces unfamiliar to him.

"Bye, Draco," Hermione said, before dropping her voice so only he could hear. "Good luck."

"Bye, honey," Draco said, and before Hermione could realize what was happening, he had dropped his mouth to hers for a quick kiss. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, and stayed that way as Draco left the elevator.

 _What was that about?_

Then she saw the other occupants, and realized it had been a show for the officials watching the couple.

 _Right, that's why he had lost his mind._

Even an hour later, as she sat in a meeting with the Hogwarts Board of Directors, she refused to acknowledge that her lips were tingling.

"Mummy!" a little voice called as her door flung open. Scorpius came running into the room and jumped into Hermione's lap. Draco walked in behind, and shut the door of her office.

"How was the interview?" Hermione asked Draco.

"Ask him yourself," Draco replied, a small smirk forming on his mouth.

Hermione rolled her eyes at his childish behavior, and turned to the boy cuddled up against her. "What did the lady ask you, sweetheart?"

"Mummy, did you know it was the lady who came home that day. I didn't like her very much, cause she's very strict and doesn't smile, like Ms. Emily at school," he said.

When Hermione nodded, he continued. "She asked-ed me about Daddy, and Grandma and Grandfather, and my school, and Ms. Alison, and Flora and Eddie and Peter, and then they said Mother was my mummy, but I told them that was ridiculous. You are my mummy, mummy. And then they wouldn't listen to me, but I told them that only you make me pancakes and teach me songs and give me hugs and that you love my paintings, and that mother didn't do that and that I was scared of her. But they still kept saying that she was my mummy, and you were my spet-mummy and I got upset, and I know big boys shouldn't cry but I wanted to see Daddy and you, and they wouldn't let me, so I started crying, and then they let Daddy come get me. I don't like them very much, mummy."

Hermione had tears flowing on her cheeks now. She had always been able to form a good bond with most children she met, but this young boy brought out a maternal instinct in her she never thought she had. She wanted to protect him from everything, and it hadn't even been a month since they had met. Yet, all the love he showed her made it natural for her to want to shower him with love too, and now she didn't know how she would walk out of his life and not be able to take care of him and love him this much.

"Mummy, don't be sad," Scorpius said worriedly, wiping her tears. "I'm going to tell Daddy to curse that lady cause she made you sad. I know you are my mummy."

Hermione laughed at the boy's words, and hugged him close. She looked at Draco, and saw him smile comfortingly at her.

"Hey, buddy," Draco called to his son. "Since you aren't going to school today, how about we go out for lunch? And then we can go to Honeyduke's and you can pick out ten pieces of candy."

"Daddy, twenty!" Scorpius said, jumping off Hermione's lap.

"Twelve," Draco offered.

"Fifteen," Scorpius argued.

"Fine, eighteen it is," Draco said, trying to hold in a laugh as his son tried to figure out what his father's offer meant.

"Yay!" Scorpius said excitedly, once he finally finished counting in his head. "Let's go!"

Hermione wiped her tears, and laughed at the boy's excitement, as she gathered her coat and purse. Draco was standing near her door, holding Scorpius' hand as the boy thought out loud about the candies he wanted.

"You okay?" he asked her, when she finally stood near him.

"Yeah," Hermione nodded. "Thank you."

"What for?" Draco asked in confusion.

"For letting me meet this wonderful boy, and be a mother to him. Even if it is for a little while," Hermione said softly, looking down at Scorpius.

* * *

 **(A/N: Some serious Dramione coming up soon! Thank you for reading, and keep the title suggestions coming in!)**


	23. Then comes learning about each other

"Favourite colour?"

"Easy, blue."

"What?" Hermione said, leaning up a little to look at Draco. They had taken to asking random, basic questions at night in case they were ever caught in a weird situation where one didn't know a common fact about the other in public. In all honesty, both found that they enjoyed learning these facts about a person they had known all their lives, but not _known_ until recently.

"What, you didn't hear what I said, or what, you've never heard of the colour?" Draco asked sarcastically, turning to his side to face the bed.

He could feel Hermione rolling her eyes even in the dark. "What, it's blue and not green?" she said impatiently.

"Don't reduce me to such common stereotypes, Granger," he laughed. "Why, is yours red?"

Silence followed his question, and Draco sat up quickly when he understood what her silence meant.

"It _is_ red?" he laughed.

"Stop it," Hermione huffed. "I've always loved that colour, even before Hogwarts."

"Sure you did," Draco said, lying back down.

"Anyway, favourite cuisine?" she asked, eager to move on from his teasing.

"Probably Japanese."

"I thought it would be french or italian," Hermione said.

"You assume a lot about me, don't you," Draco chuckled. "I know you better than you know me, Granger."

"Will you every stop calling me by my last name?" Hermione said, his teasing annoying her now. "I have a perfectly good first name, you know."

"I don't even notice it," Draco said thoughtfully. "It's just natural to call you Granger. If it really bothers you, I can start calling you by your first name."

Hermione shook her head even though he couldn't see it. "No, Granger's fine."

"So, who did you lose your virginity to?"

"What?!" Hermione said. "That's hardly appropriate."

"It's just a name," Draco said, stifling a laugh over her discomfort.

"Who did you lose your virginity to?" Hermione turned the question around on him.

"Tracey Davis, fourth year," Draco rattled off quickly. "It's your turn now."

Hermione groaned, having expected him to protest over his revelation and just forego the question entirely. "Fine, it was Ron, okay."

"I see you've conveniently left out the year."

"Why do you need to know that?"

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Because it might come up, and me not knowing such a trivial thing wouldn't work now, would it?"

"No one is going to ask you about my virginity, Malfoy."

"Who knows how twisted the Ministry officials are. And see, you call me by my last name, too."

"Only when you're being an absolute prat, and I'm a ministry official too, and I am not twisted."

"If you say so," Draco said, and flung his arms over his eyes.

"Are you saying I have a twisted mind?"

"You said it, not me."

"Why do you always have to be so...you?"

"I'm still waiting on that answer, Granger."

"That rhymed."

"Stop deflecting," Draco said, turning to look at her. "Why is this making you so uncomfortable?"

"It's not."

"Well, clearly it is. What, was the weasel not good at it?"

"Don't call him that, and he was very good," Hermione said. "Much better than you."

"How would you know that?" Draco asked. "Have you been talking to my ex's?"

"No..."

"Then, that's settled then. Now, when did you lose your virginity?"

"Fine, it was when I was 20."

"So, three years after seventh year?"

"No, two. I'm older than everyone in our class."

"Oh," Draco said. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"Only because you weren't an annoying prat about it."

"Maybe you should expand your insults beyond prat, Granger," Draco said. "And why would you think that?"

"I thought you'd make fun of me, cause, you know, I was, much older than you."

"Why would I make fun of that?" Draco asked. "I knew you were a prude, and I expected no less."

Hermione threw a pillow at his head for that.

"Hey!" he protested.

"See, you are being a prat about it."

"Well, it's not being a prat if I'm right."

Hermione laughed at his tone then, and lay back down. She knew it was all casual teasing, and not serious insults from either end.

"Did you want more children?" she asked seriously.

"Yeah," Draco replied. "I did want more children. After Scorpius, I totally expected to have another child. I wanted a girl, actually."

"You really love Scorpius, don't you?" Hermione asked softly, noticing how his tone changed the moment he talked about his son.

"Yeah, with everything I am. He is the reason for what I am today, Hermione. I want to do everything I can to show him I am a better man than I was, and to make sure the weight of the Malfoy name never affects him. It breaks my heart every time I think about the fact that he will know what I did, and hate me for it one day."

"You don't have to tell him," she replied slowly.

"No," Draco said quickly. "It wouldn't be right to keep things from him. I would rather tell him everything myself when he's old enough, and show him that I'm not the same. All this coming from me instead of another person might soften the blow for him."

"He'll never hate you, Draco," she said. "You can see he idolizes you, and loves you. No one can take your place in his life ever. And if I can see that you've changed, he will be able to see it as well. "

"Hermione," Draco started. "Everything that happened in the war, shit, that day at the Manor, I'm sorry for-"

"It's okay, Draco," Hermione interjected. "It's all in the past, and we've all made amends for our sins, and come a long way from the people we were then. That's all that matters. If I didn't think that, I wouldn't have agreed to this."

"Thank you," Draco said.

"What did I say about thanking me?"

Draco sighed and turned over.

"Hey, Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"When's your birthday?" he asked. "I never quite knew at Hogwarts."

* * *

 **(A/N: I'm accepting title suggestions for one more day. Thank you for reading!)**


	24. Then comes an accident

A week later, construction of the new school was speeding ahead. The firm had already secured the foundation, and had laid out pillars for lower floor. Hermione and Draco would apparate straight to the land after leaving Scorpius at school everyday, and spend until midday overlooking the work.

Hermione would never admit to it, but her greatest flaw was impatience. Not impatience with time, but just impatience and restlessness with watching someone else do something, no matter how correctly they were doing it. Her hand automatically would itch to do get involved, and not just be a bystander. Thus, she had already established her reputation with the workers at the field as someone who wanted to do hands-on work, and they obliged her, teaching her their spells to lay bricks, pour cement or perform inspections of every new layer. Her work with the volunteer group after the war also made her an experienced worker in her mind, and she would get right to work the moment they reached every morning.

This morning, they were laying the floor for the second floor, and Hermione had taken to climbing the long makeshift ladder to supervise and direct the movements of the wizards levitating and fusing the floor to the pillars below.

"Henry, I think you need to go a little to the left," Hermione said, her eyes narrowed in concentration, holding on to the top of the ladder, as she leaned towards the right to make sure everyone was correctly positioned. "And Paul, just a tad to the right."

"Wait, wait, Steve is off by- _aaaah_ " Hermione screamed, leaning too far off and losing her balance, and before she knew it, she was falling. She fell to the ground bottom first, and her head banged against the bottom of the ladder.

Everyone dropped their work immediately, and gathered around her. The head of the firm was immediately on the ground next to her, shouting at someone to get the medicine kit, and to get Hermione water. Hermione dazedly put the bottle to her mouth, and drank.

"My leg, it hurts," she rasped out. "And my head."

"Someone call Mr. Malfoy," the head yelled out. "Now!"

Not even a minute later, Draco was pushing through the crowd that had gathered near Hermione, and kneeling next to her on the floor.

"What happened?" he asked the head, pulling Hermione up from her lying position.

"She was directing us on the ladder, and then she fell," one of the workers called out.

"Hermione," he shook her lightly, noticing her eyes shut and open repeatedly. "Hermione, what hurts?"

"My leg," she slurred.

"I'm going to take her to St. Mungo's," Draco told the head. "Will you be able to manage for today?"

"Yes, definitely," the man replied. "Don't worry about this, just take her to the hospital."

Draco nodded, and slipped a hand under her knees and the other under her shoulders and picked her up carefully, not wanting to cause any damage to her legs, and apparated quickly.

"Good morning, how can I help you?" the receiptionist asked him with a smile.

"Can you not see my wife is hurt, you crazy lady," he barked at her for her incompetence. "I need to see a Healer, right now!"

The girl was clearly scared by his behavior, and called for a nurse to direct them to a healing room.

"Sir, what's the matter?" the healer asked, looking away from the patient he was treating as Draco placed Hermione on the bed on the opposite side.

"She fell, and she says her leg hurts," Draco said hurriedly. "And she's been having difficulty keeping her eyes open."

The Healer excused himself from his patient, and walked to Draco.

"It's going to be fine, Sir," he placed a hand on his shoulder. "There's no need to panic. Now first, I need to know your and the patient's name."

"Draco Malfoy," he quickly rattled off. "This is my wife, Hermione. Now heal her."

"Okay, just follow the nurse outside and fill out the paperwork. I'm going to examine and treat your wife in the meantime."

"But-"

"Just follow the nurse," the doctor cut him off. "When you come back, she'll be good as new."

Draco followed the nurse reluctantly, and filled out what seemed to be a hundred forms regarding personal information. What did Hermione's current occupation have to do with Healing?

When he went back in, he saw Hermione fully awake, and sipping on some water.

The Healer smiled at Draco, and waved him over.

"See," he said. "She's perfectly fine now. I've given her some _Skele-Grow_ , but she's going to need a temporary cast to keep the new bones safe. So some bed rest is going to be needed. It'll also be good for the concussion."

"Concussion?" Draco asked. "She didn't say anything about her head."

"Well, it's all healed now, so nothing to worry about," the healer said. "Next time, don't panic as much. I know she is your wife, and you love her so you it's natural to worry, but someone could have you arrested for the way you interrupted order at the hospital, you know. Now, Nurse Hopkins will help you to a private room so we can keep this young lady under observation for her head for the night, and you can leave tomorrow morning if everything looks good."

Draco nodded, and didn't say anything as the nurse wheeled Hermione to a room. He followed her silently, waiting for the door to close before turning towards Hermione.

"Are you insane?!" he scolded.

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Draco cut her off.

"Who asked you to get on that damned ladder? You are not an experienced worker, Hermione, and you need to not do stupid things like that."

"I just-"

"No, you are not allowed to say anything. You're lucky you only broke one bone. What if you had more serious injuries?"

"I would not have, nothing-"

"Did you not hear me say you are not allowed to speak?"

"Excuse me, but-"

"No excuses, you insane woman. Now rest, and I'm going to go inform my parents so they can go get Scorpius."

"I'll be fine, just go-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," he said. "I'm going to go make a floo call, and then I'm coming right back. I want to find you sleeping when I return."

"Don't treat me like a child. I'm a grown woman-"

"Yes you are, and you will start behaving like one now," he said. "Go to sleep."

Hermione muttered a string of profanities under her breath, before pulling up the blankets around her and closing her eyes, not waiting for him to leave the room.

* * *

When she woke up, it was dark outside, and she blinked her eyes rapidly trying to understand where she was. She rose up on her elbows and saw that she was in a hospital bed.

What had happened?

She heard a soft snore, and turned her head to the direction it came from, and waited for eyes to adjust to the darkness. When they finally did, she saw Draco sitting on a chair in the corner, and blanket pulled over him, his head tilting to the side awkwardly.

Seriously, what had happened?

She pulled her blanket off her, to see a cast on her leg.

Oh, right. She had fallen off the ladder and broken her leg.

Then she remembered the way Draco had picked her up and bossed everyone to get her treated quickly.

He had also stayed by her the entire night.

Did he care or was he pretending to care for the wife he loved in the public eye?

No, no. He was a good man, and he would do the same for anyone who was hurt the same way. Hermione smiled, and lay back down to go to sleep, a smile settling on her face.

* * *

 **(To be continued...)**


	25. Then comes a big cast and some scolding

"-so this potion needs to be taken every night for a week, and this one every morning and night for three days," a deep voice was saying, waking Draco up from his sleep. He blinked his eyes open and saw the Healer from the previous day explaining Hermione's medicines to her.

"Aah, Mr. Malfoy," the Healer turned to him when he noticed Draco was awake. "Your wife is perfectly fine, and you can take her home today. But I've advised bed rest for at least a week, so make sure she listens to that. Bring her back next Monday so we can make sure she's healed perfectly, and that there's no lingering damage."

Draco nodded and thanked the Healer as the man left the room, and Draco turned to focus his attention on Hermione. Surely she was going to hex him violently for his behavior the previous day.

"Hermione, I-" he started, but Hermione cut him off.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I should've taken more care."

Draco looked at her in astonishment. Had she really just apologized?

Hermione rolled her eyes as she understood his expression. "I can admit it when I'm at fault, you know."

"This would be the first time," Draco smirked. "Now why don't you change out of that gown, and we can get back home."

"Can you send a nurse in here, please?" Hermione said.

"Why?" Draco asked quickly. "Does something hurt? Is your cast okay?"

"That's all fine," Hermione said, a blush creeping up on her neck. "I just need help putting on my clothes. Can't move my leg, right?"

"Oh, right," Draco mumbled. "Yeah, I'll go get a nurse."

* * *

"Mummy!" Scorpius called, and ran to Hermione. Draco was pushing her wheelchair, since the Healer had insisted she not put any weight on her foot. As a result, Draco had to carry her off the hospital bed and place her on the wheelchair, which wasn't very easy, considering the only things she could wear with the cast were skirts or dresses. It was almost 3 pm by the time they returned, as the forms and checkout procedure had been incredibly tedious.

"Buddy, don't jump on her," Draco told him son. "She's hurt, you see."

Scorpius stopped in front of her, and carefully touched her cast, as if afraid to hurt her with the smallest of touches.

"Does it hurt a lot, Mummy?"

"Not a lot, sweetheart," Hermione replied softly, and she could see how scared the boy was. "It hurts just a little, but I'll be okay in a week."

"Yes, you will," another voice said, entering the living room then. "I'm going to make sure that you're eating and resting correctly and taking your medicines on time."

"Mum?" Hermione asked incredulously. What was her mother doing here?

"Draco showed up yesterday, and told us how careless you'd been," Claire explained, as if she had read her daughter's thoughts. Hermione shot a glare at Draco.

"Now, dear," Claire scolded Hermione lightly. "He did the right thing. You would've never told me you'd had such a fall."

"But, Mum-"

"No buts," Claire said. "Draco has offered to bring me here around dinnertime every day this week so I can check up on you. And I am going to take him up on his offer, don't even think otherwise."

Hermione sat quietly then, knowing it was futile to argue with her mother. Her _dear husband_ , on the other hand, was surely going to be on the receiving end of a nice little hex by the end of the day.

"Mummy, Nana Claire gave me this, see," Scorpius said, pushing a small bear into Hermione's face.

"Wait, that's Mr. Poodles," Hermione said, recognizing her childhood toy. "That's my toy!"

"Yes," Scorpius exclaimed. "Nana Claire said I can play with it now!"

"Did you say thank you?" Draco reminded his son.

"Of course, Daddy," Scorpius said exasperatedly.

The three adults laughed at the boy's annoyance, and Claire asked Draco to wheel Hermione to their room.

"Now, Hermione, I'm going to bring up some soup for you and some lunch for Draco and Scorpius. I want to see you sleeping the moment the soup is done," Claire said, once Hermione had been, awkwardly, placed on the bed by Draco. "You too, Draco."

"I'll just pop into office-"

"Go to sleep," Claire said sternly. "You've spent the entire day at the hospital, and it wouldn't do anyone any good to be tired right now. I'll wake you up in about two hours."

Draco nodded, as Claire smiled and turned to go heat up lunch for the three of them, Scorpius following close on her heels.

"Your mother is a scary woman," Draco said. "I see where you get it from."

"You're going to see way more of the scariness, Malfoy," Hermione said angrily. "Why did you tell her? She worries too much."

"As she should," Draco said. "You do too many stupid things. And anyway, my parents were in France for the day, and they offered to come back when I told them about your accident, but I just decided to send Scorpius to your parents' place for the day. I made sure they were okay with it, I promise."

Hermione nodded, and rolled her eyes at him. "You're ridiculous."

"Says the woman who broke her leg climbing ladders she shouldn't have."

Claire's re-entry to their room prevented Hermione from snapping back with a retort, and Draco's smirk made her even angrier.

"Eat, and then sleep," she commanded, placing a tray over Hermione. She turned to Draco, and gave him a plate of chicken, beans and corn.

Draco sat on the couch, and perched Scorpius up next to him, making sure he was eating enough and properly.

"Mrs. Granger, this is delicious," Draco said, taking a bite. "Aren't you going to have some?"

"No, I'm just going to go back for a while," Claire said. "I'll just eat at work."

"I can handle things here," Draco offered. "I don't want to impose upon you."

"It's no imposition, dear," Claire said. "I'm just going to make sure my daughter goes to sleep, and I'll leave for work then. My daughter is very stubborn, you know."

"I know," Draco teased. "She just has to do things her way, even if it's the wrong way."

"Hey!" Hermione protested, sending Scorpius into a fit of giggles.

"She's been this way since she was a child," Claire ignored her protests. "Did you know she got stuck in a slide once? She was almost seven, and decided she wanted to go on a slide for toddlers. We told her not to, but she went behind our back, and what do you know, we found her halfway through the slide tunnel. We had to call the firemen to get her out of there."

"Mum!" Hermione exclaimed in shock.

"Mummy, you were really stuck in a slide?" Scorpius asked in between laughs.

Hermione humphed in displeasure, and finished the last of her soup.

"I'm done now," she announced to the laughing observers.

"I can just call Jubilee to come clear the dishes, Mrs. Granger," Draco stood up, as he saw Claire gathering Hermione's bowl.

Claire nodded, and watched as the elf appeared and apparated away with all of their dishes.

"Time to sleep now," Claire told Hermione.

"Nana Claire, can I sleep with Mummy today?" Scorpius asked.

"Of course," Claire said. "Just be careful of her leg, okay?"

"I'll be extra careful," Scorpius promised, and climbed into bed and cuddled up to Hermione.

"Draco, I don't want to have to repeat myself," Claire said, when she noticed him standing.

Draco nodded obediently, and went to grab a pillow and a blanket for himself.

"Where are you going?" Claire asked in confusion.

"To the couch," Draco said simply, and then realized what was coming. He looked at Hermione, who had a similar look of fear on her face.

"What nonsense?" Claire said, guiding him to the bed.

"No, I'll just sleep on the couch," Draco protested. "I might hurt Hermione's leg, and Scorpius is already in there."

"Psh, that bed is big enough," Claire said, and put the pillow and blanket back on the bed.

"Yes, Daddy," Scorpius agreed. "See, so much space."

Draco looked at Hermione, and shrugged, deciding he would move to the couch once Claire left.

"Okay," he said, and climbed in behind his son, making sure to leave a lot of space between him and Hermione.

"Great," Claire said. "I'll be back in a little while. You three rest well."

Hermione nodded, and Draco thanked her as she left with Sully.

Ten minutes, Draco mouthed to Hermione over Scorpius' head, indicating that he would move once he knew Scorpius was asleep, and couldn't rat them out to Claire, inviting weird questions from Hermione's parents.

Hermione nodded in understanding, and closed her eyes.

Ten minutes, Draco reminded himself.

Ten minutes.

Ten-

* * *

 **(A/N: I have my new title. It's First comes Marriage. It was suggested by a guest, so once they get back to me, I'll let you guys know of their prompt. Just making sure everyone knows that this story has a new name, so you're not confused if you search for it and can't find it. Also, I still see so many people confused by the multiple uploads in a day, so I'm just going to try and post longer chapters so everything makes sense to everyone.**

 **Important announcement: I might be changing the rating of this story, and I'll post a note indicating I have done so if I decide on it. If you are not allowed to read beyond that rating, I apologize, but I'm just envisioning things for this story that might not fit into the T rating. I've still not decided on it but I'll make sure to be very clear about it if it happens.**

 **Thank you for reading and for all the love!)**


	26. Then comes internal musings

Hermione woke up feeling really itchy and warm. She reached out to tap the lamp on her side table on, and felt an arm tug her closer.  
She reached out a little further, and once the light was on, she saw Scorpius' arm around her tummy, clutching to her dress really tightly. Draco was sleeping behind him, his mouth slightly open, and his arm under Hermione's head.

They had had a close call with Hermione's mother the previous day. If she had so much of an inkling that they were not behaving as a newlywed couple should, the questions would not stop, and then she would take to camping out at their place to " _make things right_ ".

Even now, her meddling had lead to an extremely awkward situation for the two of them. In bed together? She hadn't wanted to protest too hard in front of her mother or Scorpius, and had hoped Draco would move back to the couch once Scorpius was asleep. The potions were tugging on her eyelids, so she was asleep within two minutes of her head hitting the pillow. It seemed like Draco had been exhausted as well, because there was no other explanation for why he would settle into bed with _her_ in it.

But friends slept in beds together all the time, right? She most certainly had shared a bed with Harry, and Ron and Ginny, and it wasn't awkward at all. And Draco and her were friends. Right?

They weren't the best of mates who shared everything, but they were friends. Arguments flew back and forth all the time, but that was just their personality. They were both opinionated and strong headed, but their arguments carried no heat at all. They were mostly trivial. Hermione would even venture to say that they were fun. It was all just banter, not fights that they had anymore. She found that she was constantly being challenged by his comments and his statements, and she often had to bite her smile away in between one of their sessions. Scorpius had taken to rolling his eyes at the two, and playing with whatever toy interested him that day.

In about two weeks, the three of them had fit into an easy routine, almost as if Hermione had always been there. Hermione herself found she liked the company, having equated herself to a lone wolf prior to this crazy situation. The two Malfoy boys had changed her opinion really easily, and she found that she liked their mornings and looked forward to coming home after work.

She looked at the clock and saw that it was almost 6, and gently pulled Scorpius' arm off her, and sat up, trying to spell her wheelchair over so she could go to the washroom.

Once the wheelchair was next to her, she carefully tried to pull herself off the bed, holding onto the wheelchair's armrest for support.

Every attempt was a failure, however, as the wheels would move with her movements, threatening to cause Hermione to fall off.  
Hermione was never one to give up, however, and tried to stay the wheelchair with her good foot, and pull herself into the chair, when she heard a sleepy voice.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Hermione turned around to see Draco looking at her as if she were insane.

"You were sleeping, and I needed to go to the washroom, so I-"

"Temporarily lost it?" Draco said, getting up and walking to her side. "I told you I would help you."

"It wasn't a big deal, seriously."

"You keep it up, and you're going to be on bed rest for more than a week," Draco threatened, knowing that this would work on her overactive and independence driven mind.

Hermione harrumphed. "Fine, can you help me?"

Draco smirked at her acceptance, and slipped his hands under her knees and her shoulders and placed her on the chair. He wheeled her over to the bathroom, and went outside and waited for her to be done.

How had he fallen asleep the previous night? He was supposed to have slipped out the moment Scorpius was asleep, not fallen asleep and caused an awkward situation for Hermione and himself.

But it hadn't been awkward, had it? She certainly hadn't said anything to the effect. And he had slept deeply for the first time in a month. It was probably because he was near Scorpius again. His son had been spending so much time with Hermione that he barely got the amazing hugs and cuddles he had been accustomed to all these years.

 _For Salazar's sake, don't be so pathetic and act like you're jealous of your fake wife and her bond with your son! You're a grown man, not a little schoolboy!_

In all honesty, Draco found that he actually enjoyed their family time. Every night would find the three of them sprawled on Scorpius' floor, playing some Muggle game with some hippo's. Draco always lost, and would pretend to make sour faces while Hermione and Scorpius laughed until their stomachs hurt. On other nights, they would go out, mostly to Diagon Alley, and one special time to something Hermione had called the cinema. They had watched some absurd movie about some toys that were alive, and Scorpius had remained awake until 3 am that day in hopes that his toys would wake up and play with him too. Draco had given Hermione the dirtiest look when they finally had Scorpius down, and made their way to their room that night.

And it was their room. He had stopped thinking of it as his room a while ago, as Hermione's stuff had taken over. His bathroom counter was now home to all of Hermione's makeup, and creams and hair products. How many creams did one person need, after all? And her shoes. They were all over the closet. She had way too many of those damn things.

Draco surprisingly didn't feel annoyed or irritated with this invasion. He enjoyed their sparring, and was actually grateful for how much work she had taken off his shoulders. She would co-ordinate their meals, plan fun outings, pick up Scorpius after school, and even watch him or play with him if Draco was in a meeting or on a floo call.

It was a shame it was a fake marriage with an end date, because he could get used to this sort of family life.

Hermione opened the door carefully then, and Draco stepped behind her to wheel her back to the bedroom. Without saying anything, he picked her up and placed her on the bed again, and went to the kitchen to ask Sully to start preparing their dinner and Jubilee to go to Hermione's parents place and inform Claire that they were all okay, and insist that she rest for the night.

That night as they played another one of Hermione's muggle games, this time with some snakes and some ladders, both of them tried really hard to ignore each other and the tingling that had almost become a constant of Draco's arms, and on Hermione's knees and shoulders.

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 **(A/N: Did that seem too much like a filler? I just wanted to write what the two of them were thinking, so sorry that this was a short one. Tomorrow, you get another inspection, while they have a visitor. What will that entail?)**


	27. Then comes another inspection

"And did you take the other one on time?"

"She did, but I think it was an hour long struggle to make it happen."

Claire and Draco laughed as Hermione glared at Draco.

"Okay, the two of you need to stop ganging up on me," she muttered.

This only caused another bout of laughs at the look of indignation on her face.

Draco had apparated to Hermione's parents place in the morning, and apologized for the previous night as he brought Claire to his house via the floo. Claire had immediately taken to asking Hermione a thousand questions, as the mother and doctor in her refused to let her sit without doing so.

"Mrs. Gr-Claire," Draco corrected when Claire stared at him in wait. "I can work from home today. I don't want to put you off."

"I only have an appointment at 11, so I can stay till then," Claire said in thought. "You can go gather all your work and bring it here until I leave."

Draco nodded, and went to go shower, leaving Hermione and Claire alone.

"He is such a sweetheart," Claire declared in a whisper. "He was terrified while you were in the hospital, you should've seen the poor boy."

"Sweetheart, my foot," Hermione mumbled. "He's a right prat, he is."

"Don't be rude, Hermione," Claire admonished. "He's so caring, and such an amazing husband and father. You know I wasn't sure about this when you first showed up, but your judgement was right. He is wonderful."

"Well, he very nearly got a good punch at the hospital," Hermione said, even as she internally agreed with her mother. He had been extremely patient and caring, and it was well established that he was a great father. He was indeed a good friend.

"Anyway, how is Dad?" she asked, changing the topic.

"He's been really busy," Claire said. "He feels awful he hasn't been able to visit yet."

"Oh, no don't worry," Hermione said quickly. "It's really no big deal."

"I think he might pop by for a bit in the evening, if that's okay," Claire said.

"Of course it's okay," Hermione said. "You know I don't like calling you in minor accidents to not worry you. I love spending time with you, Mum."

Claire nodded, and said in a mock stern tone. "Well, it's a good thing Draco is here to call us for all the little and big things now."

Hermione gave her a weak smile. What would she say a year from now? Would her parents even talk to her after all this?

Her thoughts were interrupted as Draco walked out into the room then.

"I made some quiche for you two," Claire said, standing up. "It's in the oven heating up, so give me a minute."

She left the room, and Draco looked at Hermione's worried face and signaled to her to ask what was wrong.

She was just about to answer, when the doorbell rang.

Draco went to open the door, and returned with Ms. Hobble, their inspector. And Hermione's mother was in the kitchen, and going to be back any second.

And she had no idea of this inspection business.

"Hello, Ms. Hobble," Hermione said, a wide grin on her face. She hoped to distract the lady long enough for Draco to slip out and send her mother home.

"Mrs. Malfoy," the inspector nodded. "Did this happen at home?" she pointed to Hermione's cast.

"No, it happened at work," Hermione informed her.

"I see," Ms. Hobble looked at Hermione over her spectacles, and then made a note on her clipboard. "And was this at your workplace or Mr. Malfoy's?"

She looked at Draco just as he had moved towards the door. "It was at a site, Ms. Hobble," Draco said instantly, flashing her a charming smile.

"I see," the inspector repeated again. "And does Scorpius spend time at this site, Mr. Malfoy?"

"No, he's at school while we work. And it's a construction site, and we know not to take him near these places," Hermione answered this time. How rude was this lady? She didn't even ask if Hermione was okay, and on top of that, was trying to insinuate that they were careless parents who would take their child to a hazardous area.

"Okay, it might be little too hot, so be care-"Claire's voice rang in their room, and Hermione and Draco looked at each other in panic. "Who's this, dear?"

Draco quickly stepped forward. "Ms. Hobble, this is Claire Granger, Hermione's mother. Claire, this is Ms. Hobble, she is an inspector at our Ministry and she is overlooking the case between Scorpius' mother and I for Scorpius' custody."

Claire looked at Hermione in shock. "Hermione, you didn't tell me about a custody case."

Ms. Hobble instantly had her clipboard up, and was writing away furiously.

"Mum, it was, just-" Hermione stuttered, trying to explain the situation without giving too much away in front of the inspector.

"Claire, this was my fault. I didn't want to cause stress or worry to anyone," Draco stepped in, and Hermione thanked him silently.

Claire nodded, and moved to shake the inspector's hand.

"Well, this is great," the inspector announced. "I'm going to have a private chat with Mrs. Granger now."

Claire looked at Hermione for instruction, and Hermione nodded. There was no getting out of this now.

Claire nodded back, and followed the inspector to the living room.

Once they could no longer hear footsteps in the hallway, Hermione gestured to Draco to follow them. Draco nodded in understanding, and walked to the living room, and hid himself behind the door to hear the conversation.

"Mrs. Granger, tell me about your daughter's marriage," the inspector said.

"Well, to be honest, my husband and I were shocked when Draco and Hermione came home, and Draco asked to marry her because we hadn't even known Hermione was dating anyone," Claire said, and Draco's heart raced in fear. "But Hermione has always been very private about her personal life, and even when she was at Hogwarts, we would hear all about her classes, but never about anyone she was interested in or dating."

"And do you think this marriage is stable and real?"

"Real?"

"Yes, it is the Ministry's opinion that this marriage might be fake to change the outcome in Mr. Malfoy's favour."

"No, my daughter wouldn't do anything like that," Claire said confidently. "Our family believes very strongly in the sanctity of marriage, and I know Hermione wouldn't marry anyone if she honestly didn't feel she loved them. And I've spent time with them, and just from this accident alone, you can see how caring they are, not only for each other, but also for Scorpius. I have no doubts that they love each other, and the three of them are a very happy family."

Draco felt tears prick at his eyes. He was causing so much pain not only to Hermione, but also making her hurt such wonderful people.

"That's all, then," the inspector said then, and Draco ran back to their room before he could be caught.

He quickly sat on the corner of the bed, and picked a conversation with Hermione, hurriedly batting away her questions.

The inspector and Claire entered the room then.

"This inspection is over," Ms. Hobble declared. "Good day."

The inspector left, and Draco offered to take Claire back home. Claire agreed, and after hugging Hermione quickly, she followed Draco to the floo.

Draco didn't know what possessed him in that moment, but he couldn't stop himself as he pulled Claire into a tight hug before leaving her.

If it weren't for the fact that he would lose his son to a terrible woman, he would have told Claire the truth right then and there.

 _Damn it!_

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 **(A/N: Thank you johnsocz for pointing out an error. I intend to ask a beta reader after the entire story is posted to go over all these errors, and expand the story a bit if I have the time. Meanwhile, please let me know if you see any logical or grammatical errors that bother you or don't make sense. Thank you for reading!)**


	28. Then comes a school opening

"I, on behalf of everyone at the Ministry of Magic, am proud to support such a great endeavor. The re-building of our society does not only include the physical act of putting back buildings and houses back together, but also of mending the ways of our society. We want to eradicate all forms of separation, no matter what the basis may be, and move forward as one united front. We are thankful to our Education Secretary, Hermione Granger-Malfoy, who has quite literally put her blood, sweat, and tears into building this beautiful premise, and personally supervising the training of the Professors and the staff. Mr. Draco Malfoy has to be given credit for the idea in the first place, and I wish that everyone takes this as an example of how to evolve into more modern ways of thinking. The two of them, along with their staff, have personally rounded up our very first batch of students, and we wish these students the best. With this, I declare this school open."

Minister Shacklebot turned around and cast the charm to open the big gates to the school, and everyone in the audience stood up and clapped. Hermione and Draco were in the front row, looking up proudly at the school.

"We did it!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.

"We did," Draco repeated. "I didn't know he was going to include me in his speech."

"Of course he was," Hermione said. "He wasn't going to take credit for this entire thing when it was your idea that has all these people here."

"Still," Draco remarked. "We were never on great terms."

"Did you not hear what he said?" Hermione turned to him then. "He wants everyone to move forward as one, not hold on to past prejudices."

Draco nodded, and looked at the students enter the school grounds solemnly.

The two of them had spent the past two months working tirelessly on getting the school ready. After Hermione was off bed rest, they had interviewed and convinced various Squibs to take on positions as the new staff. It was difficult to do so, since not many had wanted to be living so openly in public either due to personal or due to family reasons. However, Hermione was hell bent on having them teach, since she felt they would be able to connect with the students the best. She had then convinced Headmistress McGonagall to lend them her teachers for the summer to train the new staff so they would be prepared for the first year. Hermione observed each session closely, and remained a facilitator to make sure the syllabus they had constructed was possible and efficient. Draco, in the meanwhile, had conferred with the staff and arranged for all supplies needed for classes, be it magical creatures, potions ingredients, plants, and even all the furniture. After placing the necessary security charms, they had called McGonagall, Kingsley, and some of Hermione's other bosses for a tour of the school, and announced that it was ready for a trial year. They had then taken personal trips to homes of potential students, and convinced their families to let them try the school. Some had laughed, some had threatened to hex them, others had become emotional, and some others had agreed right away.

And so today, September 2, two batches of students entered the school to start their first year. Hermione and Draco's efforts had paid off, and the two couldn't be prouder of their accomplishment.

Personally, their life had been no short of a whirlwind. Their inspector would show up unannounced at the most inconvenient moment, and question them as if they were criminals.

Scorpius being there made things more complicated, as the boy would blurt out random observations about an argument his parents had or something that was said, and Hermione and Draco would have to hurry to explain themselves and turn the topic around. When the inspector left, they would literally fall to the couch and breathe a massive sigh of relief.

Other than the inspections, they enjoyed their days. Working on the school so intensely meant that most of their waking moments were spent with each other. They would have lunch together, work in one office, go to meetings together, then go home together and sleep in the same room.

Their little night time game of asking each other questions had actually become one of the most relaxed and fun parts of the day, the ones with Scorpius aside, and both knew some of the most insignificant but funny details about the other.

But the mornings were Draco's torture. He would wake up and his entire room was engulfed in the most enthralling fragrance of coconuts and strawberry, the smell strongest in the bathroom where Hermione had showered. Every morning, Draco was reminded of how badly he needed to get laid as even the fragrance was arousing to him. The first couple of days, he had blushed every time Hermione was standing too close to him, deep in discussion over some file, and he could smell the same fragrance on her. Since then, he had taken deep care not too breathe too close to her and scare her off. It wasn't her fault that it had been close to 5 years since he had been with anyone.

Draco was brought back from his thoughts as Hermione poked him in the side, gesturing that they needed to go inside the school now.

Draco nodded, and took an other look at the banner with the school's name: Novis Initiis, and the plaque near the side that read: Patronage of Draco Malfoy and the Ministry of Magic.

It had been Hermione's secret gift for him, that she had only revealed the previous day and refused to take down.

She was such a good person, and such a good friend.

A friend that he had a massive crush on.

Yes, that was the truth. Draco had a massive crush on Hermione, his wife. Correction, his fake wife.

He honestly could not pinpoint the time he first felt it, but he knew it was a crush. Probably seeing her with Scorpius, and the lack of a woman figure in his home for so long was what had caused him to revert to being a teenage boy.

Well, that and just Hermione. She was beautiful. Not perfect, no. But beautiful all the same. She wasn't too tall, or too thin or too curvy, and her skin wasn't gossamer or silk. Her hair wasn't bushy or sleek, it was just luxurious chocolate curls interspersed with shades of honey and caramel. Her nose was tiny, and her lips were full, always bare and always scrunched up as Hermione thought. But Merlin, it was her eyes that got him. At Hogwarts, he had always thought them plain brown, finding that blues and greens were what attracted him. But now, he would find himself staring at the gold that merged with the richest brown color of her eyes while she went on a rant or spoke about some new idea she had. They were kind eyes too, always in search for someone to help or a new job to finish.

It was ridiculous, truly. He was a grown man with a child, and here he was acting like the boys he had seen at school, hanging on to every word of the girl they had a thing for.

He tried his best to hide it, but spending so much time with her made it so much more difficult.

 _Don't be daft, Draco_ , he would remind himself every time the thought popped into his head. _She's going to laugh in your face if she ever were to find out. It's just the lack of company talking. Just keep your head down, pretend she's your wife in front of the world, and remember that you're from two different worlds and she's doing this to help you and she's going to leave and she could never like you. No big deal._

Hopefully that would work.

It hadn't worked so far, but maybe one day it would.

He prayed it would.

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 **(A/N: Sorry that was so short, I wanted a good way to segue into the last part there. The next chapter will be way better and longer. Thank you for reading!)**


	29. Then comes a birthday party

**Another month later...**

"Miss Granger," Lucius acknowledged as he and Narcissa walked into Draco's home. When Narcissa glared at him, he cleared his throat. "I apologize, _Hermione._ "

"No, that's fine," Hermione said, with a smile. "Scorpius is in the gardens at the back playing with his friends."

"Thank you," Lucius said, and walked away to find his grandson. Narcissa stayed behind to chat with Hermione.

"I apologize for him, Hermione," she said. Then dropping her voice to a whisper, she said, "I promise you we are extremely grateful to you, both Lucius and I. We both have noted how much happier Scorpius is with you around, and how much lighter and relaxed Draco has been these past months."

"Well, I'm sure he is ready to be rid of me," Hermione laughed.

Narcissa opened her mouth to say something, but Hermione spotted her parents walk in with Harry and Ginny then, and made her excuses to go greet them.

"Mum, Dad!" she said, and hugged them both.

"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, and pulled him into a tight hug. "And when were you going to tell me about this?" she asked the couple, gesturing to Ginny's protruding stomach.

"We were going to Owl you last week," Ginny explained excitedly. "But then Harry thought it would be best to surprise you with the news in person."

"I'm so happy for you both," Hermione said, and pulled Ginny in for a hug carefully. "How long has it been?"

"It will be four months next week," Ginny said.

"Wow, I'm surprised Harry managed to keep it secret for so long," Hermione chuckled, and Ginny joined in.

"Okay, enough teasing," Harry declared in mock disdain. "Where's the birthday boy?"

"He's out back in the gardens," Hermione said. "Let's get you all something to drink first."

Draco stood by the windows leading out to the garden, keeping one eye on Scorpius, and the other on Hermione.

She was wearing a really pretty pale blue dress, and had pulled her hair into a messy updo. Her face always lit up when she was with her friends and her parents, and Draco found that light almost like a magnet.

"She thinks you want to get rid of her, you know," his thoughts were interrupted by Narcissa, and Draco instantly straightened up from his lax leaning position.

"Who?" he asked naively.

"Don't act stupid, you know I don't care for it," Narcissa rebuked.

"Yes, I do, and that's why it's so fun to do it," Draco said, laughing at his mother's expression.

"I also don't like it when you try to change the topic."

"Well, not all of us can be prim and proper all the time."

"Draco! Stop changing the topic," Narcissa said. "You know, she is a great addition to the family, and-"

"Mother, don't," Draco said.

"You know we don't believe in all of that blood purity nonsense anymore, Draco. Even your father, no matter how cold and unemotional he appears. Scorpius adores her, and I can see that you-"

"No, Mother, " Draco interrupted again. "She's too nice, and what you're saying...It would be like taking advantage of her niceness. I don't want to ruin her life by being selfish and anyway, we have an agreement."

"Agreements can be broken, Draco. And think about Scorpius. It would be good for him to have her around. I think she would agree if you just asked-"

"My decision is final, Mother. She can come over sometimes and spend time with Scorpius. That's it."

"But what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Wouldn't it be nice to have her around for you as well? You get along quite well."

"Well you should've thought about me when you decided to get me married to Astoria," Draco said, his voice rising with his anger.

Narcissa took a step back at his words, and Draco immediately regretted what he said.

"Mother, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean that. This whole situation just has me so confused, and not knowing the outcome of all this just has me agitated. Let's go get the cake out, okay?"

Narcissa nodded, and made her way to her husband while Draco went to go get Hermione and the cake.

"Mr. Granger, Claire," Draco greeted Hermione's parents. "I apologize, I was watching over the children and couldn't come say hello earlier."

"No worries, dear," Claire said, and pulled Draco in for a hug. It had been three months since Draco and Hermione had been married, and he still found these hugs weird.

But in a good way. He wasn't used to such physical behavior, and he found that he secretly liked the affection.

"Draco, how have you been, son?" Richard said, and gave Draco a quick pat on the shoulder.

"Good," Draco said. "And how is the ceramics class coming along?" On their last visit, Richard had told Hermione excitedly that he was joining a ceramics course, and

Draco had spent the next hour asking questions about it, fascinated with the pictures Richard had shown him and the process he had explained.

"It's great," Richard said. "Although Claire might like it more if my projects hadn't taken up the entire house."

Claire rolled her eyes, eerily reminiscent of her daughter. "All my antiques are locked away, and his pieces are on display."

"There's no other place to display them, darling," Richard said. "And it's a nice change of scenery after all these years."

"I showed you a couple alternates, Richard," Claire said.

"I told you I'm not putting them in the garage."

The four of them broke out into laughter. This was another thing Draco was new to: laughing and teasing among family. He was accustomed to remaining quiet and with proper etiquette with family, and reserved the laughter only with friends. This dynamic was foreign to him, but he found he was immediately able to become part of it.

Just then Harry and Ginny walked towards them.

"What's happening?" Harry asked.

"Nothing, the usual," Hermione said in between laughs.

"Shall we go get the cake, Hermione?" Draco asked.

"Yes, sure," Hermione nodded. "Mum, Dad, Harry, Gin, why don't you go out, and we'll go get the cake ready?"

The four of them nodded, and walked outside as Richard explained his latest patient's horrible teeth, and all the food he had found stuck in them while he cleaned them.  
Hermione and Draco went to the kitchen, to get Scorpius' Quidditch themed cake out of the fridge. Hermione got the candles out, and began placing them on the cake.

"Is everything okay?" she asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, it looked like you were in an argument with your mother before," Hermione said, her eyes still on the cake.

"No, she was just being crazy," Draco said, running a hand through his hair.

"Don't let her hear you say that," Hermione said with a smirk on her face.

"Do I look like I have a death wish?" Draco asked, sending Hermione into a fit of laughter.

"Let's go," she said. "Scorpius is going to love this cake."

Draco nodded, and picked the cake, following Hermione to the garden as she called to all the kids to come and gather around the table.

"Okay now, Scorpius," Hermione said, once everyone was around the table. "You have to close your eyes and make a wish, and then blow out the candles."

Scorpius nodded, and scrunched his eyes closed, and then blew out the candles as everyone clapped and sang happy birthday to him.

Just as Scorpius had picked up the knife, he stopped and called out to Draco. "Daddy, come here."

Draco made his way through the crowd, and Scorpius pulled his hand over Hermione's and his own, and resumed cutting the cake.

He watched as Hermione fed Scorpius cake, and dotted his nose with the frosting, then turned to Draco to feed him the remaining piece.

His mother was right, he knew that. They were good together, but it could never happen.

Hermione could never like someone like him, not to spend her life with.

And he didn't even want a life partner. Merlin knows his last attempt at it was a disaster.

So he would continue to be her friend, and let her go as they had agreed.

 **(A/N: Not the best work, but it's something. Thank you for reading!)**


	30. Then comes Christmas and an attack

"Daddy, can I get a broom this year for Christmas? Please, I'll keep it really clean and safe, I promise," Scorpius said, his eyes glistening with tears.

"Finish your hot chocolate, Scorp," Draco said, pointing to the cup. "We can discuss this later."

"But, Daddy, I'm four now, and-"

"Finish breakfast first," Draco said sternly. He had always made sure that Scorpius had everything he needed and more, but he had never allowed him to throw tantrums or be a snobby, spoiled rich child. He needed Scorpius to understand the importance of things other than material possessions in life.

"Fine," Scorpius muttered, and sipped from his cup.

"What's the matter?" Hermione asked, tying her wet hair back into a ponytail.

"Nothing, Scorpius is behaving like a baby, rather than a four year old," Draco said, his eyes glued to the newspaper.

"Daddy's not discussing buying me a broomstick, Mummy. How am I supposed to tell Daddy I can take care of it if we don't have a discussion?" Scorpius said exasperatedly.

"Well, maybe he doesn't want to spoil his surprise for you," Hermione said, having already seen the toy broomstick Draco had hidden in the closet.

Scorpius got the hint then, and smirked as he ate his toast.

Draco shook his head. These two were like naughty children with each other.

"I need to pick up a couple of packages," Draco announced, swallowing the last of his kipper, and turning to Hermione. "Do you need anything from Diagon Alley?"

"Diagon Alley?!" Scorpius said. "Can I go too, Daddy?"

Draco looked at Hermione.

She looked at Scorpius' waiting face, and shrugged. "I guess we are all going to Diagon Alley then."

* * *

"Daddy, can I buy Mummy a necklace for Christmas?" Scorpius asked, looking through the display case of beautiful jewellery.

"Do you have the money for it?" Draco asked.

"No..."

"Well, then," Draco said, and thanked the salesman, and moved to leave the shop. Hermione had stopped at George's store to say hello, and Draco had decided to go ahead and pick up all the packages he had booked for Christmas two weeks in advance. His first stop had been to collect the earrings he had bought for Narcissa, and the bracelet he had gotten for Claire.

When he was making his list to decide what to get everyone, he had grappled with whether putting Hermione's parents was a good idea or not, or whether she would just want to get them something on her own. In the end, Draco decided that he wanted to get something nice for them just as his own private way of saying thank you. He had seen the bracelet while selecting Narcissa's gift, and knew that the delicate bracelet was perfect for Claire. For Richard, he had ordered an Italian leather wallet and gold cuff-links.

"Can you buy her the necklace then?" Scorpius asked. "She would really like it, I think."

Draco considered it. He had only gotten Hermione a book and a scarf as a Christmas present, and that seemed somewhat...impersonal.

"Okay, we can go have a look," Draco said, and bent down to look at the necklace display.

"These ones are too big," Scorpius declared, and moved to the next case.

"Anything I can help you with, Mr. Malfoy?" the salesman returned, when he saw Draco looking at the jewelery.

"We're looking for a necklace for my Mummy, but none of these are super pretty," Scorpius said before Draco could speak up. Draco instantly threw the salesman an apologetic look for his son's behavior.

The salesman took no offense, however, and laughed. "Well, what kind of necklace were you looking for, Sir?" he asked Scorpius.

"Something super pretty, but not so big. My Mummy never wears such big necklaces, only smaller ones with hangings."

"I see, I might have just the thing for you then," the salesman said, and bent down to retrieve a velvet case.

He opened the case to reveal four necklace holders, all laced with the most delicate necklaces.

"This one!" Scorpius said immediately, pointing to the third one, a thin gold chain, with the most beautiful flower as a pendant. The flower was centered with an emerald, and the petals were studded with sparkling diamonds.

"Are you sure, buddy?" Draco asked, stifling a laugh at the fact that Scorpius wanted to give Hermione classic Slytherin colours.

"Yes, it's perfect," Scorpius said.

"Well, then this one it is," Draco said, and asked the salesman to wrap it up for him.

"You happy now?" Draco asked Scorpius as they were leaving the store, Scorpius insistent on holding the bag with the necklace in it.

"Yes, she's going to love it, I promise," Scorpius said, and Draco smiled at his son. He was a through and through Malfoy. He had slyly gotten Draco to buy the gift he had wanted anyway.

They walked to more stores then, and the number of bags Draco was holding on to grew larger with every store. There were a lot of people he had to get gifts for from work and family and friends. He had even gotten Harry Potter a gift.

"Daddy, look!" Scorpius said suddenly, pointing to the newest SkyFire 3200 display.

Both father and son instantly turned to the window, their mouths hung open in awe.

"One day, I'm going to get this broomstick," Scorpius said.

"It's beautiful," Draco said.

"It must go so fast, right Daddy?"

"Yes, just look at the wood finish."

"Hey, you!" a voice suddenly called, breaking both out of their reverie.

Draco turned to see what the commotion was about, and saw a grizzly man, with a moth eaten coat, and large, dirty beard coming towards him angrily. He immediately grabbed Scorpius' hand and started walking to George's shop to grab Hermione, and take them all home.

"Why are you running away, eh?" the man called behind him, as Draco's steps grew in pace. He didn't want any trouble today, and this man certainly looked like he was going to cause mayhem.

"Are you afraid that a little Mudblood is going to pollute the air you breathe? Is that why you're running?" the man kept calling, his voice getting uncomfortably closer.

People around them cleared way when they heard the voice, and Draco heard whispers about him from every direction. He looked down at Scorpius, who was struggling to keep up, but had a worried look on his face, as he sensed something bad was happening.

"Stop you filthy Death Eater scum!" the man bellowed. "Your father killed my entire family and destroyed my entire house! And you have the nerve to show your face in public as if you own the place and never did anything wrong? Stop, I say! Fucking-"

"I have a child, Sir," Draco suddenly turned around, tucking Scorpius behind his legs. "Please leave us alone, we don't want any trouble."

"Leave you alone? You and your family ruined my entire life, and you want me to leave you alone?" the man lunged towards Draco then, but a quick flash of red had him flying back twenty feet and landing on his back.

Draco looked to the side to see Hermione with her wand raised.

" _How dare you_?" Hermione started, walking towards the man with her wand still raised angrily. "How dare you threaten and scare-"

"Hermione, let's go," Draco said, pulling on her arm and holding her back. "Let's go, I don't want to create any more of a scene."

Hermione nodded, and glared at the man one last time, before holding on to Draco and Scorpius as they apparated back to their home.

Draco dropped all the bags, and immediately went to his room.

Hermione looked at Scorpius, who had tears flowing down his face, and knelt down in front of him.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" she asked, wiping away the tears.

Scorpius nodded. "Is Daddy okay?"

"He'll be okay," Hermione said. "Let's go ask Sully to make you some soup, okay?"

"You promise he'll be okay?"

"I promise. If he isn't, I'll force him to eat Christmas cake, and then he'll be happy," Hermione said, trying to make the little boy laugh.

Scorpius let out a little giggle, and hugged Hermione close, as she looked at the door Draco had closed behind him.

What a mess.

* * *

 **(To be continued...)**


	31. Then comes devastation and a kiss

Hermione knocked softly on the door. It felt weird doing so for the room that she slept in every night, but she didn't want to intrude on Draco. It had taken an hour to put Scorpius to bed, as he would keep opening his eyes every five minutes, restless to see Draco once before he slept. Hermione had assured him Draco was fine repeatedly, and that he would come meet Scorpius in the morning. After an hour, Scorpius had finally fallen asleep, and Hermione had made her way to Draco to see if he was okay.

She could see the light peeking under the door, but no sound of feet shuffling to open it could be heard. She rested her head on the cool wood, and gently called him name then.

"Draco?"

Nothing.

"Draco, are you okay?"

Still nothing.

"I'm coming in," she declared when she continued to hear silence.

She turned the knob, and slowly opened the door. The room was in shambles. The bed covers lay on the floor, a lamp was lying on its side, the lightbulb shattered, the couch cushions were thrown all over, and one of them was even ripped. Draco sat on the floor, his back against the foot of the couch, and his head dropped to his drawn up knees.

Hermione was by him in an instant, a caring hand rubbing his shoulder lightly.

"Draco," she called.

He didn't look up, he didn't even move in the slightest.

"Draco, look at me," she called again.

When he lifted his face, she let out a soft gasp.

His hair was messed up and covering his forehead, even matted in some places, and his cheeks were red. But it was his eyes that shocked her. They were red and watery, and...broken.

"I-I'm sorry," he rasped out, looking at the room with shame.

"Are you insane?" Hermione said. "You don't have to apologize."

Draco nodded, and threw his head to the couch as he felt more tears coming.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

Draco didn't say anything. Maybe it was because of the tears that were threatening to choke his voice, or maybe it was because of the fear that if he opened his mouth to say something he wouldn't stop.

Hermione placed a hand on his arm. "Draco, I-"

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly.

"I just told you not to apologize for the mess. You're upset, and-"

"I didn't apologize for that this time," he cut her off again, lifting his head to look at her. Suddenly, he didn't care that she would see the tears. He needed to say something.

"Then?" Hermione asked, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"I'm sorry for everything. I'm sorry for all the teasing and taunting and name-calling in school. I was a right bastard to you, and I'm sorry," he said, raising a hand when Hermione moved to interrupt. "I'm sorry I would pull all those pranks in class on you, or treat you like you weren't good enough to breathe the same air as me even though you were better than me in almost all classes. You didn't deserve any of it. You definitely didn't deserve what happened to you in Malfoy Manor. I swear I wanted to stop it, to help you. I was weak then, and I wish I had been stronger to get myself out of all of the atrocities I caused. I wish I'd spoken up then and not taken the mark. Did you know Snape offered me safety if I helped him information for the Order? Because he did. And I was a coward, and refused to listen. That man was right, I am the filthy one, because I've been a cowardly and a brainless murderer. I don't deserve your kindness. I don't deserve Scorpius, and he definitely doesn't deserve me as a role model. Maybe it would be best if Astoria had him. He could grow up without the Malfoy name, and without me to pull him back-"

"Draco, stop it," Hermione yelled then. "That man was insane."

"Was he though?" Draco asked. "His words were the truth, Hermione."

"They might have been the truth. But they weren't today's truth. Do you honestly think you're the same boy you were at Hogwarts? You've tried to make genuine amends, and even simply the crowd at the school opening should prove to you that people accept you beyond your past. Just the fact that you came up with the idea in the first place should show you that your subconscious has changed, that the way you think isn't prejudiced or bigoted like it was before. And fake or not, you asked for my help, and we've become friends. That wouldn't have been possible if you were still the same. Do you honestly think I would have agreed that day if I thought for even a second that you still looked down upon Muggleborns? And Scorpius told me how Astoria ignored him and didn't care for him. I've seen the way he looks at you, and he adores you."

"But he didn't today," Draco said, tears flowing freely down his cheeks. "You didn't see him, Hermione. When that man said all those things, Scorpius was looking at me, and I saw fear in his eyes, not adoration or respect. He was scared of me, and he is a smart boy. He understood what was being said, and I saw how frightened he looked of me, and what I have done."

"Do you know the only thing he kept asking me today?" Hermione said. "He only wanted to know if you were okay. He loves you, Draco, and you need to stop doubting yourself, and move on in life. He was afraid of the situation you were in, not of you."

"I don't know how to," Draco mumbled after five minutes of silence.

"Don't know how to what?" Hermione asked.

"I don't know how to move on. Everything that happens, with Astoria, today, everything keeps reminding me of my past, and it all haunts me."

Hermione smiled, and wiped the tears off his face. "Accept your past for what it was, the past. Today you're a new person, so live like it. As long as you've changed for the better today, your past doesn't define you. Play with your son, fight for him, and make him a happy and good young man. And maybe don't tell him everything, but I think it would be good for him to know that there were some mistakes you made, but that you've learned from them since, and that everything is okay. And then look at the people you work with, and your friends, and notice that they don't have a look of fear when they meet you, but of admiration. Don't let the past come into your present and weigh every day down. Don't forget it, but literally put it behind you and keep working to make your and the society's future better."

Draco nodded, and placed his hand over hers. "You should write a book."

Hermione swatted his arm playfully, and moved to her knees to get up and fix the room. Before she could fully stand up, however, Draco held on to her wrist, forcing her to look at him.

"Thank you," he said softly.

Hermione sat back in kneeling position in front of him, and smiled. "How about you buy me ice cream every time you feel like thanking me? Because this 'thank you' business is getting repetitive."

"Scorpius would love that," Draco chuckled. "He would get ice cream almost twice a day then."

"You would have to get him fake teeth once all his teeth rotted away then," Hermione joined in.

"He would look...weird," Draco said, scrunching his nose in disgust at the image.

"They make very realistic teeth these days," Hermione laughed.

"How do you know that?" Draco asked. "Wait, are your teeth fake?"

"What? No!" Hermione said. "They're my real teeth. I only know because my parents are dentists, silly."

"Sure, that's the reason," Draco teased lightly.

Hermione mock frowned as he laughed.

"Seriously, though," he said, suddenly solemn. His hand left her wrist to rub light circles on her shoulders. "Thank you."

"Your welcome," she whispered, aware of the lack of distance between them, but unable to move back. "That's one banana nut-berry swirl for me."

"That's the most disgusting flavour," he whispered, as he leaned closer to her, intoxicated by her fragrance, and wanting to be closer to it.

"It's delicious," she said.

Just then, his mouth caught hers stopping all discussions of ice cream and teeth. Draco's hands moved to curl up in her hair, bringing her closer as he tasted her for the first time. Hermione remained unresponsive at first, eyes wide open, and staring at Draco's closed eyes. When he tugged at her bottom lip and let out a deep moan, Hermione found herself pulled into the kiss, and let herself surrender. Surrender to the heat of the kiss, to the feeling of his unique scent fill all her senses. She held on to his shoulders and moved closer, running her tongue along his lips, and moaning softly when she finally tasted him.

Her moan bought them both out of their reverie, and they broke apart, flushed and panting lightly at the lack of breath.

"I'm sorry," Draco said, running a hand through his hair.

"No, I'm sorry," Hermione said. He may have initiated it, but she had let it happen and taken it too far. She blamed it on the fact that she hadn't been kissed in three years. And this kiss had been phenomenal. It was probably due to the time it had been since the last one, but she could not remember the heat and energy she had felt just now.

But no, it was wrong. They were friends, and friends did not kiss like that.

But it was just a one off. Draco had needed the comfort after the day they had had, and had sought it in the first way he knew how. And she had just felt the need to help him, so she had gone along with it.

That was it.

Yes, that had to be it.

Hermione got up and flicked her wand a couple of times, returning the room to its original state, thankful for the chance to face away and get her face back its original colour.

"You can sleep on the bed tonight, and I'll take the couch," she said, turning to Draco who was still on the floor.

"No, I'm-"

"No arguments," she said. "Up you get."

Draco nodded, and shed off his cloak, climbing into the bed in his slacks and shirt. Hermione pulled up the blanket up further, and grabbed a pillow for herself.

"Hermione," Draco called.

"Yes?" she turned around, midway to the closet to get a blanket.

"Stay."

* * *

 **(A/N: Thank you for all your comments. I really appreciate any feedback. I know there are some flaws in the story, so I intend on going back and writing more and fixing all of these once I'm done posting the entire story. This way I know that the basic premise works for all of you, and that you enjoyed the story before I start fixing it and going over it with a beta reader as well. Meanwhile, thank you for the comments and the love.)**


	32. Then comes another kiss

Draco woke up feeling really warm. He tried to open his eyes, and blinked multiple times to get the bluriness away. bugged out.

In his arms lay Hermione Granger, tightly wrapped around him, resting her head on his arm and breathing into his neck. From what he could tell, one of her legs was also thrown over his.

 _What happened last night?_ he thought, even as he inhaled the fragrance of her hair, one of the curls tickling his nose as he did so.

Oh, right, he had asked her to stay.

And she had stayed.

Granted, he immediately wanted to burst out laughing and tell her he was kidding even though he wasn't. A guy had to maintain some modicum of dignity, didn't he? But seeing Hermione chew on her lip as though she was actually considering it made all thoughts of backtracking fly out of his mind. And then she had actually slid into the bed, leaving space between them as she did so.

Their proximity, it seemed, was a result of their subconscious.

She probably thought he was asking her to stay so she wouldn't have to be uncomfortable on the couch, and that it was just as friends. And he was definitely not taking the blame alone for how close and...intimately they had come to be during the night.

Yes, he had enough to blame himself for for the previous evening.

He'd been crying like a child, and saying all sorts of deep and emotional stuff. For crying out loud, he had given short of a monologue on how amazing she was, and gone into a self-pity party. He was usually stronger than that, but something had snapped in him.

It was a good thing Hermione was caring as she was, because someone else might have laughed at how he was behaving.

And then there was that kiss. What had he been thinking, kissing her like that? It was so wrong. They had a deal, and she was just here to help him keep Scorpius and she would leave once everything was sorted.

But she had kissed him back, taken it even deeper if he was being honest. Maybe the same insanity that had struck him had affected her too.

He felt Hermione move a little, and he instantly stilled and closed his eyes. Nothing he did nowadays seemed to be mature or logical apparently.

He felt her stretch her arm and sigh softly. But she hadn't moved away. Not yet anyway. No, right now he felt her breath return to his neck, and it took all his power not to move. Now she had moved her hand back to the centre of his chest, playing with the buttons of his shirt, and he couldn't help but wonder if she was awake or if she was subconsciously moving.

His question was answered when she moved that hand to play with his hair, and then trailed down to barely touch his nose, finally coming to a stop above his lips.

That movement caused him to open his eyes again, and he turned his head to look at her. She was looking at him, chewing her lip as if waiting for him to make his move.

He kept looking into her eyes, unable to break himself from the trance they had put him in. Without thinking, he lifted his head and kissed the tips of the fingers still lingering over his mouth. It seemed to be the right move, as Hermione immediately reached up and pulled his head down to catch his lips with hers. He wrapped a hand in her hair and pushed her mouth closer, the other hand slipping to her waist to hold on to her tightly. Easily, they had set a pace, tasting each other and revelling in the heat surrounding them. Hermione even managed to roll onto her back, pulling Draco so he was hovering above her, his knees on either side of her body.

Hermione was just pulling his shirt out of his trousers when they heard a knock on their door. Draco immediately pulled back, his face twisted into a horrified expression.

"I'm sorry," he said, getting off the bed and moving towards the bathroom. "This never should've...I shouldn't have...We, I...I'm sorry."

Hermione sat up in confusion. What? She thought he...or maybe not. She dropped her head into her hands, trying her best not to scream.

Her thoughts were interrupted by another insistent knock, so Hermione threw the covers off her and went to open the door.

"Mistress, Sully is sorry to disturb you but Master Scorpius is awake," Sully stood in front of her. When she remained standing, throwing glances at the shut bathroom door, the elf grabbed her hand and dragged her out to Scorpius' room.

Jubilee was playing with Scorpius on his bed, and the boy immediately ran to Hermione when he saw her.

"You're up early today," she said as she hugged her.

"Yes, Mummy, I wanted to see Daddy," Scorpius said, and Hermione instantly went still.

"Mummy," Scorpius persisted. "Can I go see Daddy now? Is he okay?"

"Yes, sweetheart, Sully will take you, okay?"

"No, you come with me," Scorpius shook his head furiously. "Then we can all play together."

"I'm going to go make you breakfast, okay?" Hermione said, eager to get out of seeing Draco so soon. "Sully will take you."

"But I want to play," Scorpius whined.

"Daddy will play with you, and after breakfast we all can play together, okay?"

"Promise?" Scorpius said, holding up his pinky finger like Hermione had taught him.

"Promise," Hermione said, linking her pinky finger with his. "Now go."

* * *

 **(A/N: Shorter chapter, but important events. Hope you enjoyed!)**


	33. Then comes awkwardness

"Mummy, can I have some more toast please?" Scorpius asked.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth, Scorpius," Draco instantly reprimanded.

Scorpius quickly swallowed his food. "Sorry, Daddy."

"You're hungry today," Hermione remarked as she placed another toast in Scorpius' plate.

"It's cause I'm getting big, Mummy," Scorpius said. "Big boys eat more. Like Daddy."

Hermione nodded, and turned around to cook her own breakfast. Draco had come into the kitchen with Scorpius, both of them showered and changed, and hadn't spoken a single word to her.

Did he regret kissing her? Was it because of her blood status? Or because he didn't find her attractive and regretted losing control in the moment?

It couldn't be because she wasn't pureblood. Not after that speech he had given yesterday. He definitely didn't think she was lower than him because of her blood anymore. So was it really because he found her unattractive? He hadn't seemed like he didn't enjoy the kiss after all. In fact, if it hadn't been for the knock on their door, it would've progressed into something more, she knew for sure.

Wait, was it that he thought she was pushing too hard then? Did he think her a wanton woman? She knew they had had an agreement, and their relationship was purely to protect Scorpius. This...entanglement wasn't a part of that.

She felt too embarassed to even look at him, too confused to confront the situation. What was he thinking? It would make her life so much easier to know what was going on in his mind.

She sighed softly, and broke another egg into the pan, knowing that a confrontation wasn't on the cards anytime soon.

* * *

The next five days went by in awkward silence. Draco would wake up before Hermione, get ready and even wake Scorpius up. By the time Hermione would walk into the kitchen, Draco and Scorpius were almost done with breakfast. Draco would awkwardly wait for Hermione to finish eating, and then they would take Scorpius to school. Draco would purposely linger behind, telling Hermione to go on without him, and Hermione would instantly turn around and walk away to hide her pained expression.

If there was any work regarding the school, Draco would have Ida owl her with questions or details, and Hermione would purposely address the return owl to him, only to have Ida reply again. Hermione would floo back home, and wait in the living room while reading a book, but Draco would walk in much later, quickly have dinner with Scorpius, and then take the boy to bed, ignoring his demands for playtime.

He himself would only enter the room past midnight, once he saw the lights turned off. What he didn't see was Hermione open her eyes the moment he entered, watching him silently as he tiptoed around, gathering all his stuff to settle onto the couch.

Had she really made such a huge mistake staying that night that they couldn't even talk to each other anymore? He had been the one to ask her to stay, but why did it feel like he was blaming her for actually going through with his request? And why had she stayed anyway?

She wished she had her old time turner now, just so she could go and tie her past self to the couch, if only so they could not be going through this awkward time right now.

Things had gotten so quiet and awkward, that she had actually asked her mother over. Claire had looked at Hermione suspiciously when she showed up at her door, but Hermione insisted that it was just so they could all spend time with Scorpius, who had been asking for his Nana Claire.

"Nana Claire!" Scorpius yelled when he saw her walk through the floo.

Claire dusted off the soot, and held her arms open for Scorpius to fly into.

"Hi, honey," she said, picking him up. "How have you been?"

"So bored," Scorpius said, wriggling in her arms to get her to put him down. He latched on to her hand, and began pulling her to his room. "Let's go. I have a new toy that I haven't played with, and Mummy hasn't let me open it yet, and I want to open it with you."

"Scorpius," Draco called from his place on the living room chair. "Did you ask her if she wanted something to drink first? Where are your manners?"

"She doesn't want anything to drink, and I want her to play with me!" Scorpius said, his voice increasing in volume and pitch.

"This is not how I've taught you to behave. Apologize to Claire right now," Draco said, standing up and moving toward his son in anger.

"Well you don't play with me, and Mummy doesn't play with me, and now you say Nana Claire shouldn't play with me," Scorpius yelled then. "I want to open my new toy and play, why don't you let me?"

"Did you just yell at me?" Draco asked angrily.

"You're not letting me play, Daddy," Scorpius whined.

Draco looked at Claire quickly, and mumbled an apology, before grabbing Scorpius' arm and taking him into his room. Hermione winced, knowing that Draco was about to spank Scorpius, and knowing that his anger had been misdirected from the events that had transpired five days ago.

"Hermione, is everything okay?" Claire turned to her daughter, concern etched all over her face.

"He's really gentle, Mum," Hermione instantly jumped to Draco's defense. "And it's only for when Scorpius really misbehaves."

"That wasn't what I was talking about," Claire said.

Hermione looked to her mother in confusion.

"I can feel the tension between you three," Claire said knowingly. "Draco wouldn't even look at you and he's moody. Scorpius is bored and that child has never behaved that way before, which is clearly an indication of frustration. And you look tired and upset. Have you and Draco had a fight?"

"No, Mum-"

"Don't lie to me, Hermione," Claire warned.

"I promise, Mum, nothing is wrong," Hermione smiled, inwardly groaning at yet another lie she had to use.

"Hermione-"

"It's probably something at work for Draco, Mum," Hermione cut her off. "I think they're going through a new acquisition, and it's complicated. And Scorpius has been having a tough time with the fact that school ends next week. And I just haven't been sleeping well due to work."

"I can get you some of those pills that helped you before," Claire said, her eyes still suspicious. "If you're sure everything's okay...?"

"I promise, everything is fine," Hermione said, placing a hand on her mother's.

Or at least it would be, once Hermione finally confronted Draco.

* * *

 **(A/N: Next up, we have the confrontation. If everything goes to plan, there are about 11 more chapters for the end. That means I should have this story done by next week. And a week after that, I will start revising, adding, editing and fixing this story. Thanks for reading!)**


	34. Then comes an outburst

_"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy,_  
 _I would like to discuss something important related to your son, Scorpius, this evening. I'd appreciate your attendance at 6 p.m. in my office today. If you come by the school and ask the caretaker, he should be able to direct you to my office._  
 _I understand that this is a last minute notice, but it is really important we speak._  
 _Thank you,_  
 _Alison Gerber_  
 _New England Little Children's Nursery."_

Draco looked up from the note Hermione had silently handed him when he walked through the floo.

"I can just, you don't have to go," Draco muttered. "I can just say you're sick, or busy."

"I can make up an excuse if you don't want to go," Hermione said bluntly. "I will go."

Hermione had tried repeatedly throughout the past two days to talk to Draco, but every time he would slink away, muttering some excuse. Now she was just angry, not hurt any longer. There were two people that day, and he had no right to make her feel like the lone guilty party when he too, seemed so enthusiastic.

"No," Draco sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'll go."

* * *

An hour later, Hermione went into the room to change into a fresh blouse. Her head was pounding in pain, having spent all the time trying to think of what Scorpius had done that they were being summoned in such a manner, and what would happen when she would have to spend time with Draco in pretty much a one-on-one setting.

Would he finally talk to her? Would he explain his behavior? Would this awkwardness finally end? Surely he would have to talk to Hermione properly in front of Scorpius' teacher, as she was one of the interviewees in the inspections.

She absentmindedly rummaged through her closet, and picked out a navy blouse to match with her grey pants, and walked towards the bathroom. Just as she was about to open the door, Draco exited the bathroom, and they both collided.

"Sorry," he mumbled, rubbing his chin from where it had hit her forehead.

Hermione nodded, and quickly walked into the bathroom, fully aware that he was only dressed in an undershirt and a towel around his hips and trying to maintain the icy exterior she had put on the past two days.

Of course, she failed miserably, for all she could smell was his scent as she breathed in.

* * *

"We could've asked the damn caretaker to show us the way," Hermione mumbled under her breath, as they took yet another turn in what seemed like a building more complicated than Hogwarts. Why did a nursery need to have so many rooms and hallways anyway?

Draco said nothing, and continued to walk, trying to find any familiar rooms. In his time dropping Scorpius off, he would only have to walk straight to the class, and back out the same way. He hadn't anticipated getting lost, which is why he told the caretaker they would manage on their own.

"Can we just apparate to the entrance, and ask the caretaker?" Hermione finally said, after they had taken their twentieth right turn. "It's almost past 6, and I don't want to be late.

Luckily for Draco, their next right turn was the right hallway, and they stopped in front of the office that read Alison Gerber outside the door.

"Here," he said triumphantly. "Let's go."

"Only took thirty minutes," Hermione grumbled, and knocked on the door.

The teacher opened the door with a big smile. "Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Malfoy, please come in."

"We're sorry for the delay, Ms. Gerber," Hermione smiled. "And it's Hermione, please."

Alison smiled, and gestured for them to sit across the desk.

"Is Scorpius in trouble?" Draco asked.

"Oh, no, no," Alison laughed. "I'm sorry if I made it seem that way. Scorpius is a wonderful child. He actually did a little bit of magic in school this morning, and I just wanted to discuss that with you."

"Magic?" Draco asked in confusion. "He's never done magic before."

"Yes, we monitor the children carefully, and he hasn't exhibited any signs of magic before," Alison explained. "Today, however, he did two instances of magic. The first time, he caused another students chair to break from under him, and the second, he actually caused all the paint tubes to explode."

"How do you know it was him? He's only just turned four, so maybe it was one of the older children?" Hermione asked.

"Well, like I said, we monitor the children carefully, and it was Scorpius," Alison said slowly.

"We're sorry for the damages," Draco said. "We will be happy to pay for all of them."

"Mr. Malfoy, that is not a concern at all," Alison said. "I called you here to discuss why this is happening, and ways to control it. In the rare case that I see my students display magic, it's usually when they are five or six, ready to leave kindergarten. Scorpius is one of the very few children I've seen be able to do magic having just turned four."

Draco nodded thoughtfully. "I believe my first time was around the age of seven."

"Yes, that's usually the average age," Alison said.

"Why do you think it is this way with him, then?" Draco asked.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, Scorpius seems...agitated recently. He isn't playing or participating in activities, and he's very temperamental with his mood. I believe it's this agitation that has caused his magical abilities to manifest so early."

"I don't understand," Draco said. "His behavior at home has been fine."

"I'm not sure I can pinpoint the exact cause without speaking with Scorpius, but it may be due to some recent instability, or something out of regular life for him. Maybe you can sit down with him and talk to him, and he should be able to tell you if something is upsetting him."

Draco nodded again. "Is there anything I can do personally other than that?"

"Well, I guess talk to him first, and see if you can ease his discomfort. I have this brochure on calming and breathing exercises you can teach him," Alison said, rummaging through her drawer to retrieve the pamphlet. "And I'd like to have him visit our on-campus therapist and mediwitch, and they can place a temporary bind on him, so he isn't able to perform magic randomly, and scare himself or others around him."

"But isn't placing a bind on him dangerous? It could cause a build up, and when we release it, it may-"

"Hermione, please," Draco cut Hermione off, and stood up to shake Alison's hand. "Thank you, Miss Gerber, I will look into this carefully."

The teacher nodded, and Hermione quickly shook her hand before marching out in front of Draco, and apparating alone since they didn't have to wait to get off the school grounds to the designated spot after school hours.

When Draco followed, and entered the room, he saw Hermione gathering all her bedding, and walking towards the door.

"What-" he started.

Hermione turned around angrily, and cut him off. "Don't you dare put me down in front of anyone like that ever again, Malfoy! Scorpius may be your son, but I care for him deeply as well. So don't you ever cut me off like that again if you don't want a million different curses attacking you at once. _Good night!"  
_

With that, she shut the door behind her, and made her way to the guest room, leaving Draco stunned at her outburst.

* * *

 **(To be continued...)**


	35. Then comes a party

"Happy Birthday, Narcissa," Hermione said, handing her her present.

"Thank you, dear," Narcissa said, and pulled a startled Hermione in for a quick hug.

Hermione smiled at the witch when she pulled away, and silently made her way to the table where her parents sat.

It was Narcissa's fiftieth birthday, and the Malfoy's had thrown a huge party in celebration. When Hermione had checked her calendar at the beginning of the week, she had winced and groaned quite audibly. When Narcissa's invitation had arrived a month ago, Draco and Hermione had been fine, quite comfortable with each other actually. But now, they hadn't spoken a word to each other for two whole days, and she knew they would have to pretend to be in love with him in front of all the guests at the party. It would be the most awkward and uncomfortable thing she would have to experience, and she had spent the week trying to get out of going.

Attempt one had been feigning illness, and it hadn't gone especially well.

 _"Narcissa, I'm so sorry," she had floo called her mother-in-law, purposely making her voice seem hoarse and sick. "I'm not in the best of health, and I don't want to pass any infection to your guests."_

 _"Nonsense, dear," the older woman had retorted. "I can have our family healer over to you right now, and you'll be rid of this cold in minutes."_

 _"But I've already taken some Muggle medicines," Hermione had said hurriedly, forcing herself to keep her voice low. "And you never know how they will react with potions or spells."_

 _"Healer Farthway is well wersed in Muggle and wizarding treatments, so you need not worry about that at all," Narcissa had said. "I'll floo his office right now, and-"_

 _"No, no, Narcissa, please," Hermione had said dejectedly, accepting that this plan would not work. "I don't want to trouble you. I'll just wait it out, and I'll see you at the party."_

Attempt two had been tried spontaneously. She had tried finding Scorpius a sitter for the night of the party. Harry and Ginny were in Australia for the holidays, the Weasley's had gone to Romania to visit Charlie, Theo was also going to the party, and apparently, so were her parents.

The last part came as a shock. She had gone to her parents place, and asked if they could watch Scorpius for a couple of hours, but they had looked at each in confusion, and asked if Hermione hadn't known that they were invited as well. After thirty minutes of blaming forgetfulness and then convincing them that they should go if they wanted to, her mission to find a sitter was still not over. And it wasn't like she could suddenly talk to Draco and ask him to think of someone who could mind Scorpius.

No, Sire. There was no way in hell Hermione Granger was approaching the subject, especially since it was she who had been insulted, and not the other way round.

So she had floo called Narcissa again, putting on an air of desperation that was only half in pretense. She had explained that she would have to stay with Scorpius, and that Draco would attend in both their behalf.

Hermione had silently congratulated herself on her success when Narcissa had ended the call with a mumble. She felt terrible lying to Narcissa, but hell, her entire life had been a lie for the past five, going on six, months anyway. She would take the punishment for her lie if it meant getting out of an awkward evening.

Which is why she didn't hear the floo open after twenty minutes, revealing Narcissa, and an older, rather matronly, woman.

 _"Hermione, dear," Narcissa had called, causing Hermione to jump and almost spill the entire pot of sauce she was cooking._

 _"Narcissa," Hermione had replied, holding a hand to her racing heart. "You scared me."_

 _"I'm sorry, I called your name, but it seems like you were a little lost."_

 _Hermione had simply nodded. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet," she said, finally noticing the woman next to Narcissa. "I'm Hermione, and you are-?"_

 _"I'm Flo, I was Draco's nanny when he was a little babe," the woman said, her Scottish accent thick._

 _"Oh, how nice," Hermione said. "I'm sorry, though, Draco isn't home. You might have to wait a while to meet-"_

 _"Hermione," Narcissa interrupted. "She can look after Scorpius, so you can come to my party."_

 _Hermione had looked at her shocked. "But Narcissa, she doesn't know, I mean, Draco might not-"_

 _"Don't you worry, dear," Narcissa had laughed. "Draco loves Flo, and we all trust her immensely. Scorpius will have a wonderful time with her."_

 _Hermione had been left nodding, and offering a small smile, her mind unable to come up with any excuse then._

Attempt three had been a desperate effort. She had showed up at Narcissa's house, and apologetically announced that she had an important work affair to handle, and that it would take her all weekend behind her desk to finish, lest something tragic happened, like the work wasn't finished in time and thousands of children would suffer due to her lack of diligence.

 _Narcissa had looked at her suspiciously. "Surely you have staff who can take charge?"_

 _"No, it has to be me," Hermione had defiantly said._

 _"Hermione, forgive me for intruding, but is there a reason you're avoiding me and my party?"_

 _"What? Narcissa, I-"_

 _"Because all of these intrusions happening at the same time is definitely not normal. Is everything okay?"_

 _"Everything is fine, it wasn't-"_

 _"Then I am right, it is me you are avoiding," Narcissa had said. "Have I said something to offend you? Because I promise you, I am trying my best to make sure you feel like you're a part of the family. You've done so much for us, and I don't even know how to thank you. I guess it was my naivety that lead me to believe that including you in our family would be one appropriate way to do so, but I realize I was being foolish. Of course you wouldn't want to align yourself with-"_

 _"Narcissa, please, it wasn't anything of this sort," Hermione had interjected. "I promise you I appreciate all your efforts. I'll, I'll find a way to get out of work."_

So she had given up, and made up her mind to stay away from Draco at the party, and simply stick to her parents' side all evening.

Of course, they had to make their entrance together, however, so she had quietly held her head up high, and floo'd alone, waiting for Draco to follow. Once he had landed, she had lead them to the entrance, where Narcissa and Lucius stood, greeting their guests as they entered.

Now that she was here, she followed her plan of seeking her parents out and spending the evening with them.

"Mum, Dad," she greeted excitedly, hugging them when they stood up.

"You look beautiful, sweetheart," Claire said, leaning away from the hug to admire Hermione's dress.

"As do you, Mum," Hermione said, moving to hug her father.

"You really do look great," Richard said. "Where's that husband of yours now? I want to ask him about the history of this house. It's absolutely beautiful."

"Dad, don't!" Hermione said. "This house, well, it isn't the ancestral Malfoy house. That house was demolished after the war."

"Oh, thank you for the heads up then," Richard nodded solemnly, before looking around again. "Seriously though, where is Draco?"

"Hello," Draco walked up then, smiling at Hermione's parents, and avoiding her all at the same time. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course," Richard said, shaking Draco's hand and patting him on the back in true father motion.

"Draco, how have you been?" Claire asked, pulling him in for a quick hug.

"I've been great," Draco said. "Why don't you come with me, and I can show you to the appetizers and drinks?"

"I thought it wasn't a buffet, and it would be a set course meal," Claire said.

"It is," Draco said simply. "But no one is going to miss a couple of rolls or a bottle of wine. Just don't tell my mother."

Claire and Richard laughed, and followed Draco without a glance to see if Hermione was behind them.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Did her parents not see what a true git he was? _Oh, right,_ she was the one who had convinced them that he had changed and all that nonsense. He was still a foul ferret, and was ruining her plan of avoiding him all evening right now.

"Mrs. Malfoy," someone called to her then. "It's so nice to meet you."

"It's Hermione, please," Hermione stood up, and smiled at the lady.

"Oh, where are my manners? I forgot you don't recognize any of us," the lady said, holding out her hand for Hermione to shake. "I'm Desdemona Parmentier, Narcissa's friend."

"It's lovely to meet you, Mrs. Parmentier," Hermione said.

"Where is Draco now? I haven't seen him around," Desdemona asked.

"Oh, I believe-"

"I must say, you two make a beautiful couple," the lady cut her off dreamily. "I swear to you, when I saw that picture of the two of you in the Prophet, I told my husband right then that you two would have the most beautiful babies. Oh, here comes Sylvia now. Sylvia, dear, how have you been?"

"I've been wonderful, but I haven't seen you in far too long," the lady said, hugging Desdemona. "Mrs. Malfoy, pleased to meet you too."

"It's Hermione, please. Mrs. Malfoy sounds far too much like Narcissa for me," Hermione laughed.

"Of course," Sylvia smiled. "Your wedding was beautiful. It's a shame we didn't get to meet that day."

"Yes, the wedding was gorgeous," Desdemona chimed in. "Narcissa really outdid herself. But as I was just telling Hermione over here, I told Andrew the moment I saw them together that they would have beautiful babies. Isn't that right, Sylvia?"

"Oh, absolutely," Sylvia said. "Lydia told me the same thing, you know? And she has an eye for this sort of thing. She predicted Xavier and Julie would have a little brunette haired, green eyed baby girl, and what do you know it, little Marie has brown hair and the most lovely green eyes. I've heard Xavier has named her as the owner of his ancestral home."

"What about any future son then? Shouldn't the family house go to him?"

"Well, that's what I said, and apparently old Prue has been talking to Julie everyday trying to get her to convince Xavier to change his mind."

"Oh, Prue! I haven't seen her in years!"

"Wait, were you not at the Farnsworth's silver jubilee gala?"

"No, I was in Greece for my granddaughter's first birthday then," Desdemona said sadly.

Hermione stood there awkwardly, offering a small smile whenever the two ladies looked at her, but entirely lost in the conversation.

When three more ladies had gathered around, and taken the conversation from what another old acquaintance had shown up wearing at a garden party recently to another acquaintance who had caught her husband with his assistant at their own anniversary party, Hermione knew this night wasn't going to be all smooth sailing.

It was time for Plan H then.

It was time to block out all the chatter, and all the questions, and allow herself not to think, and there was only one thing that could do that.

Alcohol.

* * *

 **(A/N: Thank you for reading! Also, the rating of the story is now M, bumped up from T. Please don't read ahead if you are underage or don't like reading M rated fics. Or you can just skip the next chapter, and I will post a note for the chapter you can read ahead from. Sorry for the trouble.)**


	36. Then comes arguments and acceptances

Hermione tapped her glass again, waiting for it to fill up with more wine. It had definitely done the job, the alcohol. She had found a table towards the back, and made herself at home. She had lost track of how many glasses of wine she had had after the fourth one, and she wasn't sure her legs could handle her weight if she tried standing just then.

She had significantly loosened up, excitedly nodding and chatting with any of Narcissa's guest who would come over to introduce themselves. She would blurt out any gossip she had heard through the evening, scandalizing the new conversation-mate or causing them to giggle along with her.

Draco was taking her parents around the room, introducing them to the guests and making sure to grab a drink or snack for them from the tables around them. Watching the three of them laugh at a joke, or at Draco when he rolled his eyes behind a guest had added another two drinks in Hermione's tab, and it had taken an entire internal argument to convince herself she wasn't jealous.

"Hermione, dear," Claire called behind her. "We were looking for you."

"I was right here, Mummy," Hermione said, trying her hardest to maintain composure.

"How much wine have you had?" Claire asked, surreptitiously trying to pull Hermione's glass away.

"I don't know. Isn't magic amazing? Look!" Hermione giggled, and tapped the glass again to automatically cause it to fill up. "You try!"

"Hermione, honey," Richard said, shooting an apologetic look at the table's other occupants. "Would you like us to ask Draco to take you home?"

"Oh, why is it Draco, _Draco, Draco,_ all the time?" Hermione rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

"Are you okay?" Claire asked concernedly.

"Yes, Mum," Hermione said. "I haven't been out drinking in a while, is all. Look, Lucy is going to dance now!"

"Lucy?" Claire asked, looking around to see what Hermione meant, and then honed in on Lucius leading Narcissa to the dance floor, and guiding her into the customary waltz.

Everyone applauded lightly as the dance came to an end, and Narcissa moved to Draco, confusedly looked around, and then pointed to Hermione when she finally found her. Draco fervently shook his head, Narcissa glared, and then Draco slowly made his way to Hermione.

"Claire, Richard, I think my parents would like you to sit at their table," he said. "Hermione, it's time for our dance."

Hermione looked at his proffered hand, and analytically looked at him for a second, before turning and tapping her glass once more, completely ignoring Draco.

"Hermione, he's talking to you," Claire admonished her daughter's behavior, but Hermione didn't even turn. Alcohol made her even more stubborn than she usually was.

"Is everything okay with you two?" Claire asked Draco when Hermione continued to ignore them.

"I-Yes, everything is okay," Draco said. "Hermione, please, just a quick dance. Everyone is waiting."

Hermione considered not getting up then, but then she realized she didn't want to embarrass herself or Narcissa at her own party. So she mumbled a quick _"Fine"_ , and stalked on ahead of Draco.

Draco instantly ran after her, and grabbed her hand and placed it on his arm.

Right, he was acting like the perfect, loving husband again.

He lead them to the dance floor, and placed them into the proper position and waited for the music to start. As soon as the first notes of the classical music Narcissa preferred hit the air, he effortlessly glided them around the floor, turning her when necessary, and holding her close when needed, his training as a child shining through clearly.

After a minute however, he saw Hermione grimace and purse her lips tightly. He waited until the next step to draw her close, and subtly asked her if she was okay.

She shook her head no, unable to un-glue her lips, and he knew she was queasy. He knew that look all too well himself.

Like an expert, he slowed down their movements, and quickly performed the end step, and pulled Hermione off the dance floor, smiling at the guests.

He walked to his mother then, and whispered in her ear that they were going to leave, and kissed her on the cheek, turning to his father and Hermione's parents to make their silent and quick goodbyes.

"Just one more minute, Hermione," he told her, as they walked toward the floo.

The moment they landed, Hermione ran to the powder room, and threw up into the toilet bowl. Draco sighed, and followed behind, rubbing a soothing hand on her back, and calling Sully to bring him a Hangover potion and a glass of water.

"Why did you drink so much?" he asked, wincing as she entered her third bout of nausea.

She responded by throwing up once more.

"Are you okay now?" he asked softly, once her heaving had stopped and she slumped against the bowl.

She nodded weakly, and turned her head to look at him.

He held out a hand, and helped her to her feet, grabbing a fresh face towel from the basket on the counter, and wiping her face with it.

"Here, drink this," he told her, holding out the glass of water. "You'll feel better."

Hermione gratefully chugged the entire glass, the cool water soothing her insides.

"Drink this too," he said once she was done, shoving the vial of hangover potion in her hand.

"What is this?" she looked at it suspiciously.

"Hangover potion," he explained. "It'll help you sleep, and you won't wake up with a massive headache tomorrow."  
Hermione nodded, and threw it back, wincing at the bitter taste.

"That was terrible," she said.

"Well, the medicine is going to be as bad as the illness, isn't it?" he said.

"Don't act all high and mighty," she grumbled.

"I'm not," he said. "I've definitely been in your place in the past, so I know how to take care of it."

"Well, then, don't act so nice all of a sudden," Hermione muttered, trying to push him out of her way.

"Why are you being so...so impossible?" he asked.

"Excuse me!" Hermione balked. "I'm being impossible? What about you?"

"What _about_ me?" he asked.

"You're a right git, you know," she said struggling to push him away, but failing as he held her pinned to the spot.

"And you're an annoying, know-it-all chit, what's your point?"

"How dare you?" she said, and pulled back her hand to slap him, but his seeker reflexes worked faster than her intoxicated

efforts, and he caught her hand before it could do any harm.

"Let me go!" Hermione said, pushing against his chest with her other hand, and he let go of her hand then.

"Stop trying to hit me then!"

"Well, you stop being a prat!" she said.

"Come up with new insults, Hermione," he said in a bored drawl.

 _"Don't call me that!"_

"Call you what?"

 _"Hermione!"_

"Is that not your name?"

"It is!"

"Well, then, your logic doesn't seem too astound."

"Only my friends are allowed to call me that," she hissed menacingly, causing him to take a step back, giving her the space to run out to the guest bedroom she had taken up home in.

He followed her, and entered the room before she could shut the door, and watched her as she wiped off her makeup.

"I thought we were friends," Draco said.

"We were," she replied, not looking at him.

"Then?"

"Friends don't push aside friends like you did, Malfoy," she turned around, and glared at him. "Friends don't insult friends in public like you did."

"What-"

"Let's not pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about, Draco," she said impatiently. "You literally cut me off as if I was irrelevant in front of Scorpius' teacher. He may be your son, he may not be my flesh and blood, but I do truly care for him and want the best for him. And whether you like it or not, he is under my care as well for a year."

"I-"

Hermione held out a hand indicating she wasn't done then. "My concerns were relevant. I have taken multiple courses of child psychology to become Education Secretary, and I know about magical manifestation in children. If I wanted something bad to happen to Scorpius, I would never have agreed to marry you. I could've easily gone to Kingsley and told him of your plan if I wanted to harm Scorpius in any way. So next time, don't you dare cut me off before you listen to what I have to say. I am not your perfect Pureblood wife, and I will not be treated so callously."

"I didn't mean to insult you that day, Hermione," Draco said. "I just knew we were about to fight right then, and I didn't want his teacher to be able to report anything against us in the inspections."

"I know better than to not fight in front of a potential witness, Draco," Hermione grumbled. "And anyway, even if we did fight, it would be because of you and how brooding and rude you had been for the past week."

"Hermione, about that, I-"

"Draco, we kissed, it was no big deal," she said, her voice now much lower, and a tremor affecting its clarity. "You didn't have to react as if it was a disaster. I know it wasn't the blood purity nonsense that suddenly had you overreacting like that, and I know it was the fact that you were kissing me, someone you don't like. But we are adults, and we need to behave like adults. It was a kiss, that is it."

"Wait, that's not-"

"And anyway, I know you do not find me attractive, and that is fine, but is it really necessary to act like you've committed a massive sin and then literally avoid me for-"

"Will you let me-"

"days upon days. I mean, even Scorpius noticed. And it wasn't like we-"

"You crazy woman, let me talk for-"

"hate each other, and a-" her next words were muffled as Draco's lips suddenly ascended on hers, his hands holding onto her face, and his lips moving against hers. Her eyes widened in initial surprise, but she found herself easily giving in, wrapping her arms around his neck, brushing through his soft strands, her mouth opening for him as they took the kiss deeper. All the heat from their argument was poured into the kiss, and Hermione moaned as she tasted him again.

Wait, their fight.

She pulled away then, and looked at him, her forehead scrunched in confusion.

"We were just fighting," she said.

"Yes, and you weren't letting me speak," Draco said, resting his forehead against hers. "Will you listen to me, please?"

She nodded, and pulled away to go sit on the edge of the bed, looking at him expectantly to say his piece.

"You thought completely wrong, Hermione," he started. "I completely mucked it up and overreacted because I thought I was taking advantage of your kindness while I was in a vulnerable state. I thought you were only going along with all of it because you pitied me and what had happened. And I couldn't believe I let myself lose control and use you for comfort like that, or that I acted the way I did from before what happened until now."

Hermione looked at him in confusion, still not able to piece the entire story together.

"Because the truth is, me not finding you attractive couldn't be any further from the truth," Draco said, a deep blush staining his pale cheeks.

"So you only acted the way because you thought you were forcing yourself on me? Then why did you avoid me like the plague for so long?"

"Because I was mortified with myself. And I couldn't look and you or talk to you because of how disappointed in me you looked, and as a reminder of what I thought I had done," Draco said, running a hand through his hair, and sitting down on the same side as Hermione.

"You idiot, I was disappointed because I thought you were mortified by what we had done, and that you were shunning me!"

"Well, I thought-"

"I know," Hermione sighed. "We are both idiots."

"I agree."

"So you find me attractive?" Hermione teased, after a brief silence.

Draco looked at her, and they both grinned like little kids.

"Clearly you find me attractive, too," he smirked at her.

"I never said anything to that effect," Hermione retorted.

"But you implied it," Draco said, raising an eyebrow to challenge her. "And come on, I won't blame you for think this way."

"None of the words I said formed those words, or anything implying that at all," Hermione said, trying to stifle a laughter.

"Sure they did."

"And which were those words, please tell-" she was cut off before she could complete her thought, Draco's lips attached to hers again, as Hermione leaned back on the bed slightly.

"Do you mind?" Draco whispered, pulling away and looking at her.

Hermione simply pulled his face down for another kiss, breaking apart only to catch their breath.

"Good night, Hermione," Draco said, and scooted off the bed, knowing that he shouldn't push her too far and too fast.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hermione asked.

"To my room," Draco turned around, his heart racing a little faster with the possible future of their conversation.

"Oh," Hermione said. "I thought you could stay. I might have a headache during the night, and I thought it would be easier if you were here to help me out."

Draco grinned, and pounced back on the bed, pinning her under his body to pull her in for another kiss.

"Tricky witch," he murmured in between pulls of lips.

"You know it," she whispered back, rolling them over and settling by his side, pulling him in close.

"Good night, Draco," she whispered, placing a kiss on his chest.

"Good night, Hermione," he said back, placing a kiss on her forehead.

* * *

 **(A/N: Was the reconciliation okay? Let me know your thoughts! Thank you for reading)**


	37. Then comes the morning after

Bright light hit Hermione's eyelids, causing her to groan and move, trying to find a comfortable spot. She moved again, when she felt something behind her, and opened her eyes to turn and look behind her.

She immediately broke out into a smile when she saw Draco behind her, still fast sleep.

Hermione gently moved under his arm on her waist to lie on her back, and look at him. She had never had the chance to just look at him so closely, when he looked so peaceful.

His hair was longer now, and he no longer favored sleeking it back with hair gel, something she knew he had done for Scorpius since the boy had loved to pull on hair when he was a baby, and the residual hair gel on his hand was definitely not safe for him. Now, Draco had foregone hair gel even though he could safely use it, and his hair looked paler and mussed up when he was at home. He had also gained some weight from when he was a child, and his features were not as pointy and stiff as they had been. He had even taken to sporting a light stubble, and that only added to the maturity in his features. He had a few lines around his eyes, and a few more around his mouth, and to Hermione, they didn't look like they were adding age. To her, it showed that he laughed often, and she knew that laugh was free, so they added a nice appeal.

And his eyes. Eyes that were so beautiful, she thought it unfair. They were every shade of grey imaginable, and centered by the black of his pupil, they only looked more deep and almost...magical. Some specks of lighter grey were scattered in his iris, and they looked like they were almost silver, and shining at her.

"Are you quite done, then?" Draco's voice called out, breaking her away from her not so subtle examination.

"You're awake," she said, embarrassed that she had been caught.

"Yes, I am," Draco laughed, knowing she felt awkward. "So, what is your verdict?"

"My verdict?"

"On how handsome I am," Draco waggled his eyebrows.

"You're such an egotistical git," Hermione said, slapping his arm lightly.

"So I've been told," Draco laughed again.

"So..." Hermione said, rubbing her thumb on his cheek in slow circles.

"So..." Draco repeated, pulling her closer to him.

"Did you mean what you said last night?" Hermione asked.

"All of it," Draco said. "Did you?"

Hermione nodded, leaning up to peck him on the other cheek. "But I'm not sure what it all meant..."

"It meant that we act on it. It means that we kiss, and we hug, and then we shag."

"Draco, stop," Hermione giggled, trying to push away his tickling fingers. "I do think we should take it a little slow, though. I mean we are already married, and we haven't even been on a date yet. I just don't want to rush this, and then regret it."

"We have been on a date before!" Draco protested.

"What? When?"

"We go out to lunch every working day," Draco said.

"That's not a date," Hermione said. "That was lunch."

"Yes, a lunch which I asked you to, where we had great conversations, and which I paid for. What else is a date, Hermione?"

"That was still not a date."

"What do you do on a date that was not done during the lunches?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow in response.

"Well, that can be remedied," Draco said, and tried to pull Hermione even closer.

"Well, you better get up and get ready soon," Hermione said, pushing away from him and getting up to go get ready.

"I haven't gotten my morning kiss yet," Draco said, raising on his elbows.

"You haven't gotten rid of your morning breath yet," Hermione said. "Go get ready, Draco. You have to go pick Scorpius up."

"You're no fun," Draco harrumphed, and threw the covers off.

"Go pick your son up," Hermione laughed at his petulance, and turned to go to the bathroom, her clothes for the day in her hands.

"You should probably go to your parents' and see them too," Draco said.

Hermione smacked her head with her hand lightly then, groaning as she remembered her behavior. "Oh, right..."

"I can come with, if you want..." Draco offered.

"No," Hermione shook her head. "You go get Scorpius. He should be ready by now."

* * *

"Mummy!" Scorpius screamed in excitement, and ran to Hermione as she stepped into the house. Her trip to her parents' house had been awkward as she hadn't ever been drunk in front of them before, and she had to repeatedly reassure them that everything was fine, and the previous evening had been a one-off. She could only home her words had helped as she left, and apparated back to her home.

Hermione being Hermione, had so many thoughts, concerns and questions about their new development internally, and she was afraid of bombarding Draco with all of it.

Would they tell people? Or at least his parents? What about their contract and their marriage? Would they null it? Wasn't that too big a step? Or would they divorce, continue to date, and then marry again if it all worked out? What if it didn't work out? What about Scorpius if things didn't go well? How would it all work out given the complicated situation they were in? And would she have to tell her parents everything?

Was this a mistake?

It hadn't felt like a mistake last night, and she knew it wasn't due to the long time lack of a man in her life. No, those kisses had been amazing, and sleeping wrapped around him had brought her the best sleep she had had in ages.

But seriously, how would it all work? This was an unprecedented situation, and Hermione had no idea how to sort it out.

"Scorpius!" Hermione exclaimed, and knelt down to hug the boy, pushing all prior thoughts out of her mind. "Did you have fun last night?"

"Yes, Mummy!" Scorpius said. "Nanny showed me Daddy's pictures when he was four. She said I looked just like him, but I didn't think Daddy looked like me. His nose is so long, and mine is so short, and my cheeks go so far, and Daddy's didn't. Isn't that funny, Mummy?"

"Yes, it is," Hermione laughed. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"Yes, Nanny made me so much food and I don't think I can eat for so much time now."

"Scorpius, mate, why don't you go get your bag, and we can take you to school for your Christmas party?" Draco interrupted.

"Christmas party?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, they've called all the children only for the day, and they were going to do some games and things. Did I not tell you?"

Hermione frowned at him, and he knew he hadn't told her due to all the miscommunication that had been happening, causing him to immediately mouth a sheepish apology.

Hermione rolled her eyes, kissed Scorpius a quick bye, and went to the kitchen to get lunch started.

Ten minutes later, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close towards their owner.

"I'm sorry," Draco whispered in her ear.

"It's okay, Draco," Hermione said, continuing to stir the sauce.

Draco turned off the gas stove, and turned Hermione around in his arms, pulling her in for a kiss. All of Hermione's thoughts ran far away the moment his lips touched hers, and for that minute, she forgot all about their future.

For now, she was happy to be here, in his arms.

* * *

 **(A/N: So I struggled a bit with chapter 36, because I wasn't happy with it or my outline for the remaining chapters. So I've changed it a bit, and the story will still remain in the M rating, but that won't happen for just a little bit more time. In the meantime, you get to enjoy romantic Dramione. Thank you for reading, and for all the love.)**


	38. Note

Hello! I'm so sorry for being gone for so long.

Honestly, I reached a point in this story where I had started hating it. The characters were too black and white, it was too boring and it wasn't going where I wanted to see it go.

So, I have spent all this time writing and FINISHING a version two of this story. The last word is written for the very last chapter, so you will be getting an entire story from me.

The characters are more fleshed out now, most of the plot holes are fixed, and I generally like it a lot more. The chapters are longer, and I have tried to explain everything more so it makes sense.

I will try and post one chapter every single day, unless I'm really caught up with work so I can't. But be assured, this story is finished so it won't be abandoned.

Thank you for sticking with me even when I've disappeared for so long.

I'm going to leave this version up as is if you want to read it, but the new and improved version can now be found on my profile. It's the same title as before.

Thank you, and I really appreciate all the support.


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